Snake Sannins, Zoldick Brats, and a Trapped Uchiha
by onskidrow
Summary: Gon and Killua needed money. Badly. So they didn’t bother looking twice when a certain snake sannin offered payment for them to join his village. [Naruto crossover]
1. A Needed Paranoia

**Chapter 1 – A Needed Paranoia**

**Lawyers:** I claim no ownership of either Hunter x Hunter or Naruto.

**Summary:** Gon and Killua needed money. Badly. So they didn't bother looking twice when a certain snake sannin offered payment for them to join his village.

**Notes:** I guess this idea crept into my head after examining the similarities between Hunter x Hunter and Naruto. In the HxH storyline, it takes place while Gon and Killua are busy thinking up ideas to get money to buy Greed Island (after they have their bouts with the Ryodan). There's some lapse of time where, instead of chasing the Ryodan again, they train themselves and develop abilities similar to the current manga's state. In Naruto, it's after Sasuke joins Orochimaru's ranks; after he gains the Chidori Nagashi (One Thousand Birds Current) and after Naruto has rescued Gaara from the Akatsuki.

Also, there will be slight alterations to the HxH plot since Gon and Killua failed to help Kurapika out with Ryodan-catching. The Ryodan leader has no fish hooks in his heart and can move about freely.

* * *

Gon and Killua needed money. Badly. Greed Island, their current sole hope for finding Gon's father, had been just a tip out of reach. But what had pissed Killua off to no end was the fact that they had only been twenty jenis short of their prize. Twenty jenis, for godsake! Just after Killua had attempted to teach Gon about the tricks of the auction, too! He'd been fooled under his nose; he, the lecturer of auction strategy had been left to fume at his own embarrassment and explain why he had sounded so knowledgeable when in fact he couldn't even put his knowledge to practice. Luckily, Gon wasn't the type to snicker and blame, or else Killua really would've blown. 

And now, there was a suspicious dark-haired man offering them money, a large, chump sum of readily available cash to join their village. Killua wasn't sure of agreeing at first, wasn't sure if the man with elongated eyes and floppy black hair was worth trusting for a copy of Greed Island. But Gon, the all too naive Whale island native, had already accepted the deal, sent their thanks, and dragged the wary Zoldick heir along.

Not that Killua could really complain, of course. Danger could be fun, never mind what his malignant, narrow-minded older brother would say. Illumi had once been his goal; his mountain to scale, and Killua had clung on to the man's every words and made them his philosophy. But now, his brother had faded into ash under the intense fire of Gon's _normality_, and Killua no longer felt the need to pick at his brother's scrap of a philosophy.

Yet the more Killua looked at the man calling himself Orochimaru, the more Killua was reminded of his brother. It was as if—

"Killua!" Gon's voice cut through his thoughts. "Orochimaru says he's offering us dinner. Don't you want to go?"

Killua shrugged. Going mattered little. The need to investigate their new employer, rather, mattered much more. Still, out of politeness, he knew he had to agree. And besides, this might just offer a good opportunity to scrutinize Orochimaru's real intentions.

There was no one in the dining room by the time they reached it, just a couple of plates of restaurant food gracing the table. Killua inwardly sighed. Any hopes of interrogating their employer had crashed through the roof. _And_ they were being served that disgusting spicy thing he'd consumed at Gon's house. Ewwww.

"Gon." Killua wasn't sure if they were being spied on in their sparsely populated dining room, but his curiosity took the better hold of him. A piece seemed to missing from the puzzle of Orochimaru's generous offer.

"Eh, Killua?"

"Don't you find it weird? We're being offered thirty million jenis just to join a village? Unless this guy is some rich bastard who grows money on trees—"

"Well, he did say that we were going to help him train someone too. But that's not too hard, right, Killua?"

Killua's face darkened considerably. The exact reason that was bothering him was _why_ this idiot wasn't giving them a harder task to undertake. He forcefully spooned in another mouthful of the spicy, claw-like substance, dejectedly wondering why he hadn't just convinced Gon to go to the local ice cream stand instead.

* * *

"So, Kabuto, the white haired boy is suspicious?" Orochimaru was not surprised. The boy _was_ a legendary Zoldick, and to expect the Zoldicks to not harbor at least a hint of paranoia after the daily assaults on their estate was, frankly, stupid. 

"Indeed." Kabuto had no idea why the snake sannin had insisted on paying so much for a Hunter and a Zoldick to drop by the Sound. Had Sasuke needed any training, he could've easily sufficed. Why sacrifice their paycheck just to bring in two kids?

"I will figure a way to dispel his suspicion eventually. For now, inform Sasuke that he will have _better_ sparring partners."

Kabuto nodded numbly, almost seething in annoyance. Better? He wanted to sneer. No spoiled bundle of brats could possibly be as competent of a sparring partner as himself. But if Orochimaru's purpose was just to rile him up…Or…perhaps the man had found _another_ viable vessel…

"Oh, yes, and Kabuto? Leave with the Akatsuki tomorrow. A week after tomorrow they will be here for a diplomatic session, and you should be there to spy."

Damn. Yes. Just his luck, to be stuck with the freaks that possessed red-cloud-embroidered coats and purple nail polish.

* * *

Sasuke was not pleased. He had never heard of a Zoldick, and no matter how much significance Orochimaru seemed to place on them as being an "elite, assassin family perhaps superior to the ANBU," Sasuke still found himself doubting. And he definitely wasn't pleased with someone who had only gained the mere title of a 'Hunter', as he'd heard the Hunter exam was only a tad bit harder than the Chuunin exam. Clearly nowhere near Itachi. 

He was going to greatly look forward to crushing these dimwits.

When they approached, he had not expected a white-haired boy (wasn't he supposed to be _twelve_?) and a rather Narutoish partner. Playing with them certainly wouldn't hurt. Destroying them with Chidori afterward would be a feat he'd look forward to.

"Uchiha Sasuke, is it?" Killua's curt voice rang across the training field.

"Yes." And an even more curt reply.

"We have been asked by the leader of your village to spar with you."

_Then get on with it and quit stalling_! Sasuke snarled at no one in particular and flung several kunai hastily in the Zoldick heir's direction. To his infuriation, the boy easily averted the attack, even if said attack was something any genin could avoid.

Killua stared blankly at Sasuke, emanating a bored expression. Before their arrival, he'd had Gon contact Hanzo, the single ninja in their round of the Hunter exam, and found out about shinobis' peculiar decision to use kunais, senbons, and shurikens instead of their more modern counterparts. As another set of kunai flew by, Killua gauged Sasuke's throw—it was certainly not _slow_, but it was definitely nowhere near the velocity of a speeding bullet.

Gon was right. It wouldn't be too hard to train the Uchiha. But to deal with the derisive looks that this spoiled village leader's son (or so he thought) was sporting on them was enough to drive Killua to the brink. A part of him wanted to dump him in his family's estate and leave him to the mercy of his fat brother Milluki.

Sasuke glared at Killua, radiating annoyance. To him, Killua's nonchalance and his not-even-bothering-to-attack demeanor held a mocking tone. Unless he wanted to activate his bloodline limit, a strategy was definitely in tow. Muttering an inscrutable _Kage Bunshin no Justu_ followed by a quick _Kawarimi no Jutsu _into a blade of grass, Sasuke managed to distract Killua for just enough time to collect his thoughts.

Killua quickly concentrated nen on his eyes to keep track of what was going on. He saw a shift of some sort of energy that was obviously not nen creep from Sasuke's body into the plants below them, and then watched as Sasuke disappeared and reappeared from sight. This must've been the _chakra_ that Hanzo had informed him of. Hanzo had claimed that all shinobi from the general area of the Five Great Shinobi Countries made use of said energy. Hanzo had proceeded to explain that unlike nen, which focused more on twisting a single _hatsu_ to suit all of one's needs, chakra thrived on numerous abilities.

Whatever maneuver Sasuke had just performed had obviously allowed him to go into hiding. Yet Killua knew that hiding for either of them would only prove an advantage for their opponent—after all, Killua could sense Sasuke's leaking nen miles away and Sasuke could say the same about Killua's unused chakra. _Stupid move, Uchiha. Even without _en_, your presence 4.5m behind me is just screaming to be knocked down._

Killua had had enough of analyzing. Usually, one would say battle is synonymous with strategy, but it was obvious that the Uchiha's mind lacked the strategy compartment, making their skirmish more than boring. Normally, such lack of thinking ahead wouldn't have annoyed Killua—after all those spars with Gon he had first hand experience that aforementioned _head-straight-to-battle_ types fished out the most unpredictable moves to send an opponent to hell. He had long since learned not to underestimate them. And this Uchiha knucklehead had just garnered the exception of his theory. **(1)**

* * *

In a few days—with the Akatsuki and Kabuto, who are nearing Oto's borders

* * *

Kabuto cracked an eyelid at the sound of birds. 

He cracked another at the amplification of said sound.

And shot straight up when a loud BOOM emanated from someplace west of his current half-awake state.

His delirious state allowed him to conjecture that Deidara's clay birds must have learned to imitate real ones in speech. He was going to give hell to aforementioned Akatsuki member soon, _very soon_ for disturbing his sleep.

* * *

Sasuke sighed and clutched his head. Wasting a Chidori shot was probably _not_ a good idea, but at least it dissipated his anger. His defeat at the hands of newly labeled "Zoldick brat" was definitely a blow to his revenge-afflicted soul. A blow that he'd return as soon as the chance showed itself. 

The Zoldick brat had told him, yes, _him_, the supposed genius of the Uchihas that he lacked strategic maneuvers. Heavens, he, the smartest member of team seven, lacked _strategic maneuvers_? Just who did this farce think he was, thinking that he could lecture Sasuke on strategy? It was obvious to Sasuke that the Zoldick brat had used no amount of strategy either. After all, who could call just standing there a _strategy_? Unless, of course, the Zoldick brat was trying to provoke or test him…

Sasuke quickly shut off such thoughts. Any relatively intelligent person, Naruto not included, knew that provoking him would've been suicide. So what the hell had the Zoldick brat hoped to achieve by just standing there? And how was it that the white-haired menace had survived his newly developed Chidori Nagashi and then turned the electric currents onto Sasuke? He then had to use a second wave of Chidori Nagashi to defend himself, soaking his chakra source to near zero, causing him to pronounce defeat. Well, not exactly in a verbal manner.

Sasuke was sick of this. He was supposed to _surpass_ Itachi, not sit here and mope. He should've _improved_ while staying at Orochimaru's for so long, and yet, _this_ was his improvement? Being unable to defeat a twelve-year-old boy?

Not wanting to waste another Chidori shot on calming his short-fused mental state, Sasuke decided to take a swig of sake. Ever since being introduced to the drink six months ago, he had come to savor the drink's innate ability to lift depression, which came off as rather contradictory since the drink's technical term was _depressant_.

* * *

Killua shook his head. The minute Sasuke had attacked him with electric currents after a shout of "Chidori Nagashi", he had to try extra hard to suppress the need to kill. Watching the psycho attempt an ability that would've killed or at least disabled normal folks for days had spurred his interest to rip apart the Uchiha's heart, a feat he could've easily accomplished in his close range to the bastard. Even more annoying was how huge Sasuke's bozone layer **(2)** had balloned—he just _had_ to shout out the attacks name! Didn't this guy have any notion of _stealth_? 

Sure, they weren't exactly on _friendly_ terms, but if his daily training sessions with the Uchiha were to be quite so…irritating, he would definitely find another way to loop in the money. This arrogant bastard was both annoying _and_ lackluster. Perchance this was the reason Orochimaru had hired them—it was certainly a handful to deal with spoiled sorts. Perhaps the snake-sannin deserved some sympathy after all—taking such a bratty kid in was quite a handful. He had expected a challenge, a chance to learn something new. Instead he got a fool who knew naught of electricity manipulation.

* * *

Red clouds impaled on black cloaks flooded Otogakure's front gates. Diplomatic meeting time had arrived. Kabuto wanted to groan. They were always so….agonizingly silent. 

As soon as the Akatsuki were all seated, introductions made, and small talk dispersed, the meeting finally commenced. Kabuto inwardly cringed in listlessness as he watched the Shark pass a scroll to the Snake. He remembered the scroll's contents, and pondered why the Akatsuki leader had bothered to write down what could've been easily spoken.

_IN REPLY TO: AKA-OTO ALLIANCE _

_Otogakure's proposition for an Aka-Oto alliance has been gladly accepted. Our forces, though currently few in number, will soon gain momentum as the missing-nins of the Great Shinobi Countries are gathered. Our assistance will extend to Otogakure when two or more countries are attacking Oto, or when any one of Oto's enemies proves a direct threat to Akatsuki. It is understood that similar assistance will be provided to the Akatsuki. The finance and trade departments of both Akatsuki and Oto will be unified under chosen leaders from both fronts with an equal number council from both fronts. Targeting of Oto-nins on Akatsuki's part will be ceased._

_Considering the second half of your proposal, we suggest that we lie in wait before initiating war against Konoha. Akatsuki will consider sending in shinobi to perform guerilla attacks on Konoha's forces in order to weaken them in preparation for a full on assault. Konoha's current force against us, though nothing compared to its prime, may turn out like the even it did 1.5 years ago at the Chuunin Exams, a stalemate despite losses. _

_(Signed)_

_F. Eitel_

Kabuto knew that the relationship between Oto and Akatsuki was flimsy at best, and no amount of words on paper could change things. Of course, he knew that Oto would bear an advantage in reconnaissance since Kabuto was an excellent spy. Besides the numerous attacks and ploys by Akatsuki that Kabuto had managed to drag Oto out of, he had also gained a relative understanding of Akatsuki's government through his spywork. It was the new government the Akatsuki leader continuously spoke of that intrigued Kabuto—it allowed much more freedom than your average shinobi country, a freedom that Kabuto yearned.

From Kabuto's observations, the Akatsuki leader, who had given his name (Kabuto assumed it was fake) as Frelch Eitel, had wanted a free information trade marketplace. Violence to gain information, especially of the shinobi kind, would not be tolerated. People were encouraged to share information freely, though they were also allowed to keep secrets without legal irritations. This was what Kabuto had long yearned—free flowing information would mean a chance to learn about as many medical jutsus as he wanted; no more Orochimaru or village heads restricting him. Of course, he wouldn't be able to physically harm anyone to get or test his info, but he could live with that.

The Akatsuki leader had also mentioned as a supplement to his argument that the rule of the Kages was constantly corrupted. Kabuto was inclined to agree with him, as currently the only relatively non-corrupted Kages were the Mizukage, Kazekage and Hokage. And of course, the Kazekage had only recently gained the non-corruption status, after the murder of their nothing short of insane Yondaime. The more he thought about it, the more Kabuto decided that Kages and their respective Councils did hold far too much power. The strongest person in every village was to be Kage, which meant that if said Kage were corrupt, killing or threatening those refusing to follow him was a pushover. And the Council was almost always made up of rich, upper-class snobs who definitely weren't going to do much for the majority of the population.

Of course, none of this information had explained why the Akatsuki wanted the Bijuu. It was most likely for power, but power to achieve what? If the Akatsuki leader propositioned _peace _then surely he would not need such massive amounts of power. And surely he would not need to get into _wars _to gain such power either. Kabuto felt that something was amiss, something kept hidden from his eyes.

But nonetheless, Kabuto almost wanted to help the Akatsuki. Almost felt as if by helping Oto, his chances of this information paradise were diminished.

* * *

Killua desperately wanted to tail the newly arrived red-cloud-bearing group, for one of them fit the description of one of his father's failed exploits perfectly. Of course, his father hadn't really failed—it was mainly because the client was slaughtered that his father had succumbed. Nonetheless, he had been warned by his family that the man was dangerous, and that should he ever come within striking range, he ought to make a run for it. His instincts countered his curiosity and forced him to quit eavesdropping until he had a better grasp of chakra control. Currently, walking within a twenty-meter radius of the group red-cloud-black-coat group could prove fatal. Meeting Gon to devise a plan was far better. 

When he did see Gon, he noticed that Gon was involved in a rather one-sided conversation with the Uchiha.

"Eh…Sasuke, how does this chakra thing of yours work?" Gon asked.

The question had been ingrained in Killua's mind ever since their fight started—only Gon would be brash enough—and stupid enough—to ask such a question without beating around the bush. Killua had long since vowed to forget about teaching Sasuke nen, as Wing had said that nen in the wrong hands could be disastrous. This spoiled brat was definitely nothing short of the "wronghands". Now, of course, this meant his strategy of getting Sasuke to teach him chakra control while he explained the basics of nen was shot down the drain. There was now nothing to exchange on his end of the bargain. But it obvious that Gon was not having similar plans.

Sasuke was stunned. These were the fools who were _training _him? And had bested him a fight? Fools who didn't even know what chakra was? Of course it was possible that the white-haired one knew while the dark-haired one didn't and hadn't bothered to share the information. Perhaps that was why the Zoldick brat had fought in lieu of the spiky-headed one. But then that did not explain why Orochimaru would take them _both_ in.

"Ask your friend. He knows, I'm sure." He shot Gon an annoyed, I'm-way-better-than-you glare, hoping that the boy would leave him be.

"Eh? Killua's never mentioned this chakra thing to me before. Right, Killua?" Gon, possessing innate immunity to all types of glares, including the Uchiha Glare®, remained unfazed.

"Well I know _of_ it because Hanzo mentioned it several times. But I don't know _about_ it."

"Hmph. Then how did you fare so well in our fight?"

Killua smirked inwardly. This was a perfect opportunity to retrieve some information. He could always give Wing's original incomplete explanation of nen if he didn't want it to end up in that Sasuke-bastard's hands. Or he could always talk about the training he'd suffered under the care of this family. Yes, the perfect plan had come to light. "I'll explain if you explain chakra."

* * *

**(1)** Yes, I know Sasuke's a supposed genius, but I let Killua say Sasuke "lacks in the strategy department" because after watching him fight, he seems to dive in often with arrogant sentiments and only very minimal bouts of strategy. He may be considered smart by Naruto, but heavens, Naruto obviously is not a good person to be comparing oneself to in terms of intelligence. Take him attacking Itachi out of nowhere—he obviously _did_ not think ahead. Then take Kurapika in the same situation—he actually waited until Ubogin fired his rounds against the Godfathers before stepping in and waging war against a wounded Ubo. Killua and Kurapika share near identical thoughts, minus the fact that Killua is more cautious and Kurapika more knowledgeable on obscure facts. Now if this were Shikamaru vs. Killua, I'd be inclined to say Shikamaru might win. Sasuke possesses raw power, but not raw intelligence. 

**(2) **A bozone layer is a layer that filters out creativity surrounding unintelligent people.

**Ending Notes:** I suppose the story will be a bit complicated later…It won't end up like _Nen Troubles_, I hope, as this time I do have a plot planned and _written down_ so that I'll actually remember it. Akatsuki's plans will be outlined slowly, Orochimaru's plans stick closely to the canon. Konoha's plans are also going to be altered slightly based upon Akatsuki's. And I just realized that Sasuke _shouldn't_ know the Kage Bunshin. Oh well, let's just say training at Orochimaru's taught him that.


	2. A Forced Acceptance

**Chapter 2 – A Forced Acceptance**

**Lawyers:** Had either of them been mine, Hunter x Hunter would be renamed Ryuuseiga and Naruto Kakashi.

**Summary (of previous chapter):** Gon and Killua join Orochimaru's village for money. Killua initiates a fight with Sasuke in the name of training, successfully riling up Sasuke. Killua leaves feeling annoyed at the arrogant Sasuke. Meanwhile, Kabuto is sent to pretend to be on Akatsuki's side during their diplomatic meeting with the Sound. Kabuto ponders his loyalties and wonders if the promised society created by Akatsuki could be better than sticking with Oto.

**Notes:** Focuses a bit more on Kurapika. I'll switch back and forth between the two fronts—Gon, Killua, the Sound, and Akatsuki and Kurapika and Konoha. Also note that Kurapika didn't succeed in capturing any more Ryodan after Ubogin since Gon and Killua weren't there to help. So Paku didn't die, Kuroro never lost his nen etc.

* * *

Kurapika was contemplating his options. His plan against the Ryodan had failed. It was obvious that though he could take on one member who was alone and wounded, he would not manage a group of six or seven A-class criminals who were all in perfect health. And just days after quitting work with the Nostrads, he'd received information from Senritsu that the Ryodan were moving _again_, this time to attack a hidden shinobi village. The exact name of the village and their reason for attack he had no idea, but he was sure it must've been similar to their reason for the Yorkshin fiasco. 

Having heard of the general location of these hidden villages, he decided to head south towards them to loop in more information. He mulled over joining a village—it would probably be best to join the village that had the most knowledge of the outside world, but considering that he knew virtually nil about the villages, he'd have to pilfer some info.

The first and best thing was probably to look up these hidden villages in an Internet café. Most information was probably well-hidden, hence their name "hidden" village, but with his Hunter's card and the ample amount of money he'd earned from the Nostrads, he might manage to fish out something.

A few hours later, Kurapika found frustration taking over. Information wasn't particularly difficult or pricey to get, but it definitely was not very informative. Though based on the meager facts he had, he could deduce a possible candidate village for his stay, it wasn't a solid argument. The only reasons he'd been able to decide upon the Leaf were: one, the description of their village had no contradicting facts (the Sound village seemed to have written their own biography there—they claimed to have only one missing-nin when it became obvious that their entire village was comprised of missing-nins), and two, they had an extensive spy network set up by a famous shinobi.

Now, to the second part of his plan. He needed to figure out a way to get _into_ the village without causing a ruckus. Surely villages with names that proclaimed "enigma" would not allow him in that easily? Even if he gave his trust, no rational leader would've consented to him joining their ranks. He would most likely be interrogated for even trying. He could assume the identity of someone in the village, but then that would mean some how getting rid of them first. Killing them was not an option, as he did not condone random acts of violence, and besides, doing so made him no better than the Ryodan. Perhaps manipulation would work—

_Bam._ A punch was slammed into his jaw. Kurapika looked up, surprised. Damn, he'd have to pay attention to his surroundings better; he was caught entirely off guard by that one. He'd already neared the gates of a hidden village, and—

His assailant threw another punch, which Kurapika effortlessly blocked. And another and another. Then Kurapika saw it—a headband, of the Leaf no less! If he could somehow retrieve the headband and uniform from this gone-slightly-awry nin, then he might be able to pose as a shinobi for some time. But that didn't mean he was going to kill the man—no amount of prodding would make him strip another of their life unless they deserved it. Just a good knock to the back of the head would do.

* * *

Preaching about chakra to his two clueless "trainers" was not anywhere in Sasuke's mindset. He ushered them off to Kabuto's library—scrolls for the basic and not-so-basic chakra user abounded there. He was about to leave them to fend for themselves until he heard— 

"Gon, did you find any chakra suppressing scrolls yet?" Just what was the brat doing? Asking for chakra suppression scrolls when one knew nothing of the energy itself meant that something was definitely amiss. Perhaps the brat wanted to spy?

"Hmmm. Nope. But why?"

"I just need 'em."

There was a long silence.

Without warning, the door flew open in Sasuke face. Sasuke gaped. Was he not suppressing his chakra well enough so that even a _rookie_ could sense him?

"Lingering a bit longer than necessary Sasuke?" Killua's face was even; not grinning maliciously or glaring fiercely like Sasuke'd expected, considering the mockery with which the words were delivered.

"No. I'm waiting for you to complete your end of the deal." _Nice save_, he told himself.

"Okay then, I'll explain. Orochimaru must've told you about the Zoldicks, right? Well, anyways, they're a famous assassin family, and I've been training as one for the last twelve years of my life. They screwed with my body enough that I'm immune to electricity attacks. So instead of being shocked, I deflected your attack. That's what you're wondering about, I assume?" Sasuke didn't answer. He just regarded Killua contemplatively, wondering how one could possibly become _immune_ to electricity. It just…didn't sound anywhere near realistic.

* * *

Killua let a smirk grace his face as soon as Sasuke left. He'd jumped over a nice hurdle, and now they had a whole _library_ of knowledge all to themselves. This was definitely far better than paying for information on the Hunter's site or wheedling info out of some feeble-minded loser. Of course, the hardest part would be actually learning how to apply chakra when there was no one to guide him. Without Wing's demonstration, neither of them had been able to figure out that nen even existed in the first place, so what was to say they'd have better luck in chakra? Unless the two energies drew interesting parallels… 

He'd been staying at the private library for nearly three hours, and Gon had left to relieve himself when he heard the noise. Not sure if moving was a better move than staying put, he let his natural killer instincts take over and crouched toward the ground, arms raised in a steady stance. He prayed to God—nonexistent or not—that Gon wouldn't rush into the room anytime soon, or they'd both be stuck in a predicament.

"Guess I've been discovered, eh, brat?" It was a red-cloud-black-coat guy. Killua chanced a look upon the man's face—there were several scars, but no, that wasn't what stood out. What stood out was the guy's blue skin. Yes, blue skin! Killua had no idea whether it was artificial skin dye that created such a hideous shade of blue or just pure genetics. Hopefully not pure genetics, because he sure wasn't interested in seeing another sharkman grace the earth. But as his eyes continued to scan the sharkman, something even more horrifying greeted him—_purple nail polish_. What self-respecting male goes around painting their _nails_?! And purple, of all colors too.

"Well brat? What's wrong? Frozen at the sight of me?" _Indeed, the sight of a man with purple nail polish might be a bit too girly for my tastes_.

"Perhaps if you hadn't mentioned your being 'discovered', I wouldn't even have known that you were sneaking around. You come to look at the scrolls?" Killua muttered in retort.

"Well, well, why else would I be here? I don't suppose you'd know where the scrolls for the bloodline limitswould be, now would you?"

"Ahh," Killua grinned mischievously, "those seem to be two aisles to your right." Normally, Killua wasn't one to share information. More like he was one to be suspicious, hold back, and run. But in his current quagmire, it didn't really matter—the information wasn't even his to begin with, therefore he lost nothing by sharing it. He gained, on the other hand, a life. After all, risking his life for a man he didn't trust in the first place was not topping his priorities.

The nail-polish man regarded Killua coolly, scanning the boy's face for any signs of incoming attack before edging away toward his right. His suspicion was obvious, considering Killua's battle stance and willingness to reveal supposed secrets.

And that was when Gon burst in, surprised at the appearance of the bluish-tinted man.

"Hey, mister! You here to learn more about chakra like us?"

Sharkman stared at Gon, slight confusion creeping into his face. Killua wanted to burst out laughing—the attack of innocence was a perfect ploy. He hadn't even realized how well he'd picked up Gon's tricks earlier when he'd freely handed over scroll locations and caused the same look of confusion that now adorned the man's face. Of course, Gon probably had no idea he was succeeding superbly at baffling the man, just like he had no idea how Hanzo had been so mystified over his logic that eventually won him the upper hand. Killua decided to play along with Gon—this proved a nice distraction from the banality of scrolls.

The blue-skinned man spoke up again, face hidden by a scroll, "You brats better stay where you are, else your legs won't be where they belong anymore."

"Hmmm, is that a quote from the scroll? My, that's gotta be one vicious bloodline limit." Killua grinned evilly in his mind. This was like his exploits with the store manager in selling auction items all over again.

Sharkman spluttered, glaring. Poor guy was going to be played like a puppet.

Then, without warning, Sharkman's hands flashed into motion. Killua barely had time to recognize that the man was aiming for some sort of jutsu before the world around him suddenly darkened. He knew it had to be genjutsu; in fact, he even knew exactly what measures were needed to conflict said genjutsu—a simple release jutsu that he'd read in the scrolls called 'kai'. Unfortunately, or fortunately, if taken from Sharkman's viewpoint, he had only theoretical knowledge on the making of hand seals and molding of chakra, and was unable to release the jutsu. _Perhaps_, he thought boredly, _I could play this out._

His murky surroundings soon morphed into a set of ropes and ladders. Then, to his surprise, the ground beneath him shifted into a lake. Ropes and ladders above tumultuous waves. He sighed audibly.

"Overcome this, and you will be allowed to leave." A squeaky voice rose from the water. It didn't seem like the kind of voice that demanded fearing, but Killua knew better than to judge by appearances. Only some overly powerful deity could surmise another's downfall, and Killua knew he was nothing short of mortal.

"Let me explain," the voice continued, "There is a rather large mess you must get through—"

Killua spared him a confused glance, signifying a feeling of "what the f—k are you talking about?" and "I can't see anything right."

"You must understand that the dimension you've been transported into manipulates your retina—" Killua panicked. He'd been transported into another _dimension_? And here he thought he was only under some sort of wonder genjutsu. "—so that you are only able to view things in two dimensions." More panic ensued in Killua's mind—being only able to perceive in two dimensions meant major hazards in battle—all enemies were nothing short of dots and lines.

"What I was getting at is that the maze before you is really just a big danger zone—" he gestured to the walls that constructed the maze, "—Every shiny red object in the mess is to be avoided—if one hits you, then you…well, let's just leave that to your imagination."

Killua glowered at the nonexistent voice. He could currently make out vague line-like shapes that he assumed to be the edges of some object, but he had no idea how he was supposed to avoid these rapidly moving objects when he could only see in two dimensions. A boulder came crashing toward him and Killua jumped to his left, narrowly avoiding it. The boulder rammed against the wall with a resounding crunch and immediately bounced back toward Killua. _What the—_

He dodged, yet again, now realizing that the boulder, and several similar boulders in front of it would all do the same thing—bounce up and down between the walls. His safest bet would be to stay in the small area between each boulder and wait for the right time to dash across. The key to this round was, apparently, patience.

As soon as the boulder dodging was over, a series of movable boards came to view. There was no space between the boards, and each was sliding up and down, but not in synchrony. When the first board had slid all the way to the top, the second board was at the bottom, successfully blocking out any loopholes to escape.

He sighed, unsure of his ability to use nen under a supposed genjutsu. If he could use nen, then blasting a hole through the boards would be no harder than swatting a fly. But then, the voice had reminded him that this wasn't a genjutsu—it had proclaimed that Killua had been sent to another world. And it would never hurt Killua to try, unless this area he'd been sent to had some perverse anti-nen barrier that would shred his body to pieces and feed them to the nearest cannibal if he used nen.

He consciously churned nen about his body, attempting to maintain ren. And then, suddenly, a thought came to him—of course he could use nen! If he couldn't he would've noticed something _fundamentally_ different since the very beginning as he'd been unconsciously maintaining ten.

Killua jabbed the board's edge with a nen-enhanced poke, confident that it would, at the least, cause a nice dent. The board cracked evenly, leaving a gloating Killua ready to crawl in. Unfortunately, a putrid smell found its way to Killua's nose, ruining any of his earlier plans. Killua, trying his best not to breathe, instantly pulled back, thanking the gods that his sense of smell wasn't as strong as Gon's.

The squeaky voice chose this moment to announce: "Ah, I forgot to warn you of the traps on the red objects." Killua gaped. The man was telling him this _now_?! Though he supposed that was the point of the challenge…

"The smell exuded from the boards is nothing compared to some of the more elaborate traps you might see. One of them attaches invisible cords to your brain cells and heightens the affects of electrical synapses in your neurons, causing you to experience the world ten times as intensely. Another one triggers the currently invisible screens on the walls to broadcast all of your thoughts in words. And—"

"Great. Now how do I stop these traps from setting?" Despite his outward annoyance, Killua was grinning stupidly to himself. He hadn't dealt with such an interesting challenge even in the Hunter's exam. Now was his chance to amuse his bored self.

"Ah, that you'll have to experiment with. Even I am not really sure."

Killua shook his head. Then he realized something—it was the same trick! The same trick that Gon had used to get them out of the tower event of the Hunter exam, the same trick that he'd used again to escape with their life from the Ryodan. And he'd forgotten it without Gon's reminders.

He sent a kick toward the wall that defined the maze, not bothering to reinforce it with nen. The wall shattered as he expected it would, for the kick of a Zoldick was not to be underestimated. His victory was cut short though, as a single hair pierced the dark room, ramming itself into Killua's skull.

Now if Killua hadn't dealt with psycho older brothers capable of manipulating needles and elusive fat brothers who mourned over figurines, he would never have believed that a strand of hair could hit so hard. As soon as the hair strand entered his mind, it seemed to split into pieces and continue to do so as it wormed its way around his brain. The split hairs were carriers of some type of information, each marauding its way through Killua's brain while parading, "My name is Ikon!" and "I have an offer for the konhead!" while generating the image of a bluish tube.

Killua, having no idea what was going on with the voices and nor what the tube they were busy offering this konhead being was, decided it was best to concentrate and force the voices from his mind. He gathered nen at his head at a point, hoping that when he forced the nen out, the info-hairs would be driven by the impact and come out as well. To his disappointment the tubes simply multiplied and continued parading his mind.

"Here konhead," one of the voices seemed to be pointedly directed toward him, "take my offer! Suck it!" Another blue tube. And this time it no longer felt like it was in his mind; it seemed solid and resting right in front of his eyes.

Killua wasn't stupid. Heavens, he was raised an assassin; there was no way he'd be dumb enough to suck on a blue tube just because voices in his head were coercing him to do so.

"Blue kons are good—they bring the energy of the hair! White kons are the bad ones!" The voices continued to urge him.

Killua grinned. Blue kons brought energy, eh? He reached for the blue tube, and his grin stretched wider when he realized it was solid. He brought the energy tube to his head. It was just compressed energy, meaning that if he released it normally, the energy would dissipate. But he'd placed a nen barrier around his head and was ready—instead of being squandered, the energy would spread to into the enclosed area created by his nen barrier. Then, he'd use the nen barrier to crush the energy toward the hair strands, which, he hoped, would successfully fuse them into one piece again, making it easier to get rid of.

His plan worked, brilliantly. No one was sure how much wider his grin could get.

Then, out of nowhere—"You're much better at this than I thought, Killua Zoldick."

Another voice. It was much deeper, and with it came a figure with glistening red eyes and—behold! Purple nail polish. _F—k my luck._

* * *

Kurapika grimaced. His assailant was a missing-nin, quite obvious from the slash on his forehead protector. Nonetheless, he _did not_ want to take the man's life. Missing-nin did not mean anything along the lines of "bad", just, perhaps, unaccepted by one's village. Of course, that didn't take away his suspicion that _most_ missing-nins were bad, considering the accounts he'd recently read up about one Uchiha Itachi who had slaughtered his clan (this reminded him of his task at hand—take down the Ryodan who did the same to him!) and one disgusting Orochimaru. If this missing-nin were anything like the former two, he'd slaughter the man without a thought, but for now, he'd give him the benefit of doubt and just knock him unconscious. Moreover, he didn't think someone who wasn't exceptionally strong could've garnered themselves a reputation such as the Uchiha's or Orochimaru's, and this man was definitely not strong. 

Now it was just the task of borrowing his forehead protector—a different idea struck Kurapika. Missing-nin brought back to their respective villages might prove more helpful than sprouting a disguise. He didn't have much experience in disguises, besides, so it might be better to use this missing-nin to trade a position among Konoha's shinobi.

It didn't take to long to find the supposedly "hidden" village. It was shrouded in a forest, but its presence was quite prominent.

He frowned upon his entry to the village though. Guards littered the area, and he had a strong feeling they wouldn't want him anywhere near the leader of the village to propose a trade.

"ID please?" the gruff voice of a guard made its way to Kurapika's ears.

"Ah, I'm not from around the area. Rather, I just noticed a missing-nin flee from your village, and I knocked him down and brought him here. I was hoping to speak with your leader alone about—"

"Our leader is busy at the moment. Do you have a scheduled appointment to see her?"

"Well, no, but I was hoping to—"

"Unlucky then. You'll have to wait a few days before you can speak with her. You can leave the missing-nin with us. Your name?"

"Kurapika."

"Kurapika. Alright, I'll tell her of you."

Kurapika nodded, but was visibly relieved. He knew that hidden villages tended to be suspicious, and was utterly glad that he'd not only made his way out of an encounter alive but also struck up a deal that could prove useful in gaining information. He thought bitterly about how close he'd been last time—they'd been in the exact same vicinity as him and yet he'd been unable to outmaneuver their leader. Nonetheless, he'd been relieved to have come out of the ordeal alive and to see that Gon and Killua had finally directed their moneymaking schemes _away_ from the life-endangering group of criminals.

After the conversation with the guard and the suggestion that he should come back within a few days, he stayed in the outskirts of the village, finding himself an inn on the east side. It was sullen and quiet there, not at all similar to the atmosphere he had slowly grown used to in Yorkshin. Though the place did not hold many fond memories for him (who in their right mind considered chasing after criminals while dealing with underground mob bosses _fond_?), he _had_ learned to adapt. Being in a more quiet, town-like environment had almost scared him. The memories of his clan seemed more ready to attack when there were no noises around him to distract him.

Kurapika decided to take his thoughts off his past and wonder about Gon and Killua's whereabouts. The two younger boys had told him that they had accepted a contract with some village leader who was willing to pay plentifully for training a boy. They hadn't elaborated with details as who the leader was, but Kurapika was confident they'd be safe. He had always thought that the two boys were perfectly capable of handling themselves. Nonetheless, there was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind as he remembered Killua's incredulous look—it was obvious the boy was suspicious. Kurapika surmised that it had something to do with the large sum of money this village leader was offering, which he too found rather strange.

A few days later, Kurapika found himself standing in the Hokage's office, trying to bargain.

"You have just brought in a C-class missing-nin and Konoha is very grateful for your work. I'm willing to offer 8000—"

"Ah, Hokage-sama, I was actually wondering if a different kind of payment could be procured."

The Hokage raised an eyebrow, urging him to continue.

"I wish to join Konoha's shinobi ranks."

The Hokage fell silent, pondering. She had no idea who this blond boy was, yet he had managed to defeat a C-class missing-nin. It was equally possible that his abilities extended even _beyond_ that of the chuunin missing-nin, making him a respectable ally. On the other hand, it was also possible that this boy was a spy, and considering Konoha's poor relations with the Sound, the chances of the boy being a spy was quite high. And considering the recent disappearances of numerous Hyuuga (even the clan head Hiashi had disappeared!), letting a spy into the village could be very hazardous.

Nonetheless, she decided that perhaps if he were closely watched, they'd be able to figure out his intentions. If he _was_ a spy, she could send him straight to Morino Ibiki and figure out exactly what Sound planned to do to Leaf. If he _wasn't_ a spy, Leaf would've gained an extra helping hand. All she had to do was announce to the rest of the shinobi to watch out for suspicious actions from this newcomer—no extra work needed.

But before she did that, she had to ask—"Why? Why would you be so eager to join this hidden village?"

"Oh, well, I…wish to aid Konoha. My…entire town was recently destroyed…and I was told…by my dying father to…come here and help out." Kurapika kept on a neutral façade, secretly glad that he'd come up with a suitable lie on the spot.

Tsunade studied the boy. He seemed a bit nervous, but then everyone would be if they were under her scrutiny. And if Sound truly thought they could defeat Leaf by sending such a pathetic spy who was unable to hold emotions in check, then Sound was stupider than she thought. She decided to give him a shot. Based on his words alone, tone and infliction aside, he seemed supportive of Konoha's beliefs.

"Alright. I'll agree. Since you have defeated a chuunin, you'll be automatically promoted to the rank of chuunin. Uniforms will be sent to you within a week, and living arrangements will be made this afternoon." But that didn't mean he'd get the same amount of information most chuunins got. Or that he'd be liable to test for ANBU. No, she'd make sure he was unable to join ANBU or do much more than C and D class missions until they'd confirmed his loyalty.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama."

Kurapika left her office a happy man. He'd gotten pretty far in a day's work. Sure, he probably didn't have her full trust, but that didn't matter. He'd never expected to gain it so quickly anyway. He'd just have to wait for her trust to grow—just like he'd waited for Nostrad's trust to grow.

* * *

**Ending Notes: **Kurapika will have to clash eventually with Gon and Killua. I'm not sure where to put Leorio into this story—Kurapika has his revenge leading him and Gon and Killua their need for money. Leorio wants to be a doctor, but I can't see him learning to be a medic-nin—he seemed to want to go a formal university and not a hidden village. The Ryodan will be in this too and Kurapika will _not_ be happy to see their alliances. 


	3. Betrayal?

**Chapter 3 – Betrayal?**

**Lawyers: **Fanfiction implies zero ownership.

**Summary (of previous chapter):** Kurapika captures a missing-nin and uses the missing-nin as a trade-off to become a shinobi of Konoha. Sasuke sends Gon and Killua off to the Sound's library to learn about chakra. Kisame is infiltrating the library and meets Killua. When Kisame finds himself surrounded by a strange energy, he uses a jutsu to direct the energy to Killua, who gets sent off to a different dimension.

**Notes: **I suppose I won't be using the maxim of nen (the fact that all nen users can only be hurt by other nen users) because if that were true, these scenes wouldn't exist. Killua could kill Itachi right off the bat under that, making things rather pointless.

* * *

"Ah! Killua!" 

Killua had disappeared into thin air, and Gon was left to gape at what little (more like nothing) was left of him.

"You!" Gon was shouting now, fingers jabbing toward Kisame. "Did you do something to Killua? I saw nen coming off of you! And then it went from you to Killua!"

Kisame grinned. "Whatever, brat. And what if I _did_ do something to your friend, hmm? You think there's anything you can do?"

"If you did something, I'll never forgive you. I'll make sure you make it up to Killua!"

"That's just talk. You can't do a thing. Besides, I have no idea why your friend disappeared." _Although the jutsu I used _did_ channel the strange energy surrounding me towards the brat…_

"You don't know? Hmm…" Gon's face was scrunched in concentration. Then, with the bright smile of someone who'd made a remarkable discovery, he hooted, "Oh! I know! You can help me solve this mystery then! Aren't you interested—"

Gon's eyes widened before he could finish his speech. The man had disappeared, just as fast as Killua had gone. Any suspicion of the blue-skinned man being the perpetrator of Killua's mysterious disappearance was all gone—he'd just seen the man undergo the same problem. He then vowed in his mind that he'd save both of them. **(1)**

* * *

Kabuto was intrigued. He'd been spying on the Akatsuki for years, and he was pretty sure Akatsuki had their own suspicions of him. Which meant that they weren't likely to share their true nature with him. And which meant that the current picture they'd painted in his mind was most likely a fraud. A recent spy session had further confirmed his thoughts. 

To put it simply, it was less of a spy session than it was a wire-tapping one—he'd managed to tap into the leader's phone all the while pretending he was located in Fire Country. The conversation brought up some possible new truths:

_"Deidara, Tobi. Report? Has Isonade been taken down?"_

_"Yes, he has. We've begun the standard set of questioning, but he refuses to tell, yeah. It seems to be a deeply harbored demon secret, since the Nibi reacted the same way."_

_"Alright. Bring them to headquarters then. They will give back to us what they owe. Once you get back, you should probably begin with the secondary set of questioning, and if that still doesn't work, resort to genjutsu."_

_"Okay. Oh, and boss, I posted two new 'uns on the mission board yesterday. Think anyone'll take 'em, yeah?"_

_"Well, I believe Itachi's genuinely interested in the first one. It is his field of expertise, after all."_

_"That's good then, yeah. As long as there are takers, I guess your system wasn't too bad after all."_

_"Indeed. I do not come up with inferior systems."_

_A long pause. Then:_

_"Oh yes, Deidara, the information intranet needs more security. Several days ago I discovered a resident of Kukulu Mountain messing with the database. Thirty-three scrolls worth of information were nearly stolen had I not switched off the power."_

_"Kukulu Mountain? Oh… that's the residence of the Zoldicks, yeah? Must be that fat 'un, that Milluki, doing the hacking. We oughta get rid of the guy."_

_"That's a Utopian dream—there's no point in starting a war with the Zoldicks. I do believe they have enough skill to take us on and still leave us with a good amount of damage."_

_"Hmm, that reminds me: I heard Kisame met a Zoldick boy. He said then he felt this jutsu dragging him and he deflected it to the white-haired Zoldick, yeah."_

_"White-haired boy? He did something to the Zoldick **heir**?"_

_"Heir? Don't know 'bout that…yeah. Hey, do you think the Zoldick boy joining us would be good?"_

_"Well, yes, I suppose. But only if he wants to. Forcing him to join will only put us in danger. I'll go research him at the Hunter's site and see what info on him is turned up. Someone as famous as the Zoldicks surely has at least a few sellers of info. "_

First off, standard set of questioning? Kabuto had always thought the Akatsuki wanted to harness the power of the tailed beasts, and there was no need to question the beasts in the process.

Secondly, the Akatsuki leader had mentioned that the tailed beasts owed something to the Akatsuki. Kabuto was sure that the wording ruled out 'power' as being what was owed. So what could they possibly owe that the Akatsuki would go to such painstaking lengths just to get?

And finally, the Akatsuki were looking to nab a Zoldick boy? He was pretty sure there was only one white-haired Zoldick boy, and that would be the one currently residing at Orochimaru's. Kabuto could already foresee a number of problems with such a plan—one, the Zoldick brat had come to Orochimaru's solely for money. It wasn't likely he'd want to go somewhere else that refused to offer him money. Two, from what he'd seen so far, the Zoldick brat, or heir, as they'd claimed, was very attached to his dark-haired friend. Meaning that he'd most likely want to stay where his friend was and not leave just because the Akatsuki looked 'oh so interesting' (not!).

Moreover, why did they want the Zoldick boy? It was obvious that his skills weren't exactly up-to-par with the Akatsuki. A bit better than Sasuke, yes, but equivalent to a bunch of S-class criminals? He thought not.

* * *

_"You're much better at this than I thought, Killua Zoldick."_

Killua grunted in response. What was the deal with guys and purple nail polish? Did every other man he met enjoy painting his nails? He shuddered.

The man spoke up again, "That was an interesting game, no? A good preview to Greed Island?"

Killua narrowed his eyes before replying, "What do you know of Greed Island?"

"Ah, but you ought to know more than me. You were just in the game."

Killua forced himself to remain calm. He was just in the game? **(2)** The one he and Gon had tried so hard to snatch? And this purple-nail-polish guy had it? But now that he thought of it, this famed Greed Island had been rather uninteresting—who would've wanted to dodge red objects all day long? There was little challenge to it.

"But I must say, it was only a very tiny sector of the entire game. The actual game entails many more rules and there are obviously actual players. The maze you underwent was in a treehouse that everyone considered 'enigmatic'," the man, who, according to the last set of bingo books his family made him peruse, was known as 'Itachi', continued.

Killua nodded, looking confused. His surroundings had begun to lighten up—he could tell that he was standing amidst skyscrapers on an abandoned city street. Unable to hold his confusion any longer, Killua muttered disdainfully, "Where am I, red-eyed freak?"

Itachi brushed off the insult and answered, "In Greed Island."

"In the game? But you just said I 'was' in the game, not—"

"I never said you left the game either. Calm yourself and I will show you around."

"Oh? And just how do I know you're not going to kill me right now? I read up on your ability, you know. You and your sharingan…"

"Indeed. I could kill you right now. But it'd be pointless. I do not waste my sharingan on pointless kills. And you'd realize exactly why it'd be pointless if you didn't open your mouth so much."

Killua bristled at the insult, but nodded again, deciding not to request to be brought back to Gon. It would sound too childish—he wasn't here to play around. He was here to survive, and if he could, find out more about this mysterious Greed Island. It would be nice to be ensured of Gon's life back in the snakeman's library, but since he currently had no idea how to return, he'd just have to trust in this (clan-slaughtering) man. He glanced at the man expectantly, waiting for him to speak. When he finally did, his words were worrisome:

"You're going to be stuck in this game for a while."

Killua glared. So this man had brought him here so that they could suffer the joys of being trapped in a game together? Sure, he definitely wouldn't have helped the man if he wasn't trapped in the game, but still. It didn't make their current predicament any more likeable.

"What do you mean we're stuck in the game? Is this really a game? Or is it some kind of…illusion?"

"From the information I've gathered, it's not an illusion. I'll tell you more once you agree to a deal."

Killua's glare intensified. A deal? He wasn't sure if he could trust this guy at all. But if he didn't trust him, he wasn't sure what to do about getting out of the game either. As long as the terms of the deal were relatively beneficial for him, he supposed he would agree to it.

"What kind of deal? Keep in mind that no amount of force will cause me to agree to an unfair—"

"It's mutually beneficial. You want to learn about shinobi arts? I'll teach you about chakra if you teach me how to utilize nen."

It was that simple. Except that he had no idea if this person was the wrong type of person to be teaching nen. What if he was teaching a Hisoka-copy or any-member-of-the-Ryodan-copy? That would be…put it simply, terrifying, appalling, nightmarish…just not something he'd want to deal with. And how the heck did this guy know he wanted to learn about chakra?

"How will I know if you hold back on teaching me about chakra?"

"I could be worrying about the same thing. Are you going to deceive me, Killua?"

"Hmph. You'll just have to trust me then." He glanced at the red-eyed man deviously.

"We have an agreement then?" the man replied in monotone.

Killua gave a curt nod. _I need to psyche myself to kill him just in case. No risks can be taken in a situation like this._

"Alright. For introductions to the game then—you are useless to me otherwise—if you go north to the front gate"—he pointed to a dirt trail—"you should be able to meet Riza who will explain the rules of the game."

Killua spared him another annoyed glance for being referred to as "useless" before heading off on the designated trail.

The dirt trail soon turned into a paved concrete road, complete with trucks, taxis, and wagons roaming about. Several times he would come across marketers trying to sell the "strongest vacuum cleaner at an unattainable cheap price" (that in itself was a paradox, Killua decided) or "the tastiest all you can eat buffet".

When he finally arrived at what looked like the 'front gates', he turned to the gate keeper in hopes of a lead.

"Hey, you seen someone called 'Riza' here recently?"

"Ah, that'd be me." She observed him for a moment before continuing, "I've never seen you enter the game before. And I remember every single person who enters."

"I never walked through the front gates. Someone…somehow summoned me here."

"So someone is using the partner summon…hmm," she mused, more to herself than to the boy standing in front of her, "Alright. I've got to start telling you about the game. That is what you came here for, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'll explain how you got into Greed Island in the first place—technically, at the beginning of the game, the player has to choose a partner. Usually the partner is outside of the game while the player is in it. Then, when the player needs help, he 'summons' his partner into the game."

Killua raised an eyebrow before muttering, "I don't remember being chosen as a partner for any Greed Island participant." Least of all a red-eyed, purple-nail-polish-appreciating freak.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure what happened there. You should ask your…err…'partner' on this I suppose. In any case, you will also have to choose a partner, as every player of the game must have a partner outside the game to summon if needed—"

"Gon. Gon Freecs."

Riza's eyes widened for a moment before returning to their normal size, "Freecs, eh?" _Gin's son…perhaps he can figure out the quagmire we're in…_

"Alright. I'll put that down in records. The game itself is rather…confusing. It didn't start out this way, I might add. In the beginning, Greed Island was stark simple—collect all the cards and win the game. But someone has been tampering with the nen that governs the game, and now it's no longer so simple.

"Originally, to get out of the game, you either had to get your hands on a 'leave' card or win the game. However, it seems that all of the 'leave' cards are used up. For the last eight months, no one has been able to leave the game and there has not been a single leave card in sight. Therefore, I suggest not summoning your friend until you have no choice at all.

"Secondly, winning the game is impossible without all, and I mean **all**, of the cards. Without the leave card, you cannot win. Moreover, rumors were spread several years before the disappearance of the leave cards that even with all of the cards, winning the game is still impossible. They did not specify as to what exactly would allow a player to win, but most players who have been stuck here for a long time believe that leaving is equal to winning.

"I'll give you the binder every player gets. The slots store cards; each number in the slot represents a different card. Calling 'book' makes the binder appear, and calling 'gain' causes the card to change into a usable object. For the most part, no one makes use of these binders anymore; they are more occupied with finding leave cards than with collecting all the cards and their nen abilities are of more use than any object a card could turn into.

"That's really all you need to know, though I do suggest asking your 'partner' for more information. He should be able to inform you of the major and minor factions as well as the million other political tensions that are currently at large in Greed Island. It's a confusing place."

* * *

Itachi was annoyed. But really, that was an understatement. He was pissed. When he first entered, by accident, no less, he hadn't realized that there was no way to get out of Greed Island. He'd tried committing suicide to leave, thinking that when he 'died' he'd be kicked out of the game. But such was not the case—he was instead sent to some sort of 'residency for the dead' and then was revived in a day's time. 

He'd murdered and threatened his way through the game until he'd collected 90 percent of the cards. But that final card, that 'leave' card, was still unattainable. And Greed Island had evolved itself to the point where people were leading normal lives inside the game. Many had given up, given up on leaving and just stayed and made a living.

But Itachi wasn't like that. He intended to leave, intended to get back to the Akatsuki, to bijuu-hunting, to missing-nin life. And that was when he decided he needed some help. He'd summoned Kisame, his designated 'partner', but in the missing-nin's place had come a Zoldick. A bratty, whiny, suspicious Zoldick.

Yes, to say that Itachi was annoyed was definitely an understatement.

* * *

"What do you mean Itachi's disappeared?!" The leader, shouting. Not expected of the man at all. 

"I…dunno what happened exactly. But two months ago, we, uh, got a copy of this game. I believe…the name was Greed Island, yes. That. And Itachi's bored so he decides to go in for a while…just to uh, mess around. But he hasn't come out since…and I'm not sure what happened." Kisame grimaced. A shouting leader was a worrisome leader.

"Go into the game and retrieve Itachi then. Deidara was actually looking forward to…."

Kisame rolled his eyes. Deidara had probably posted another stupid mission on their mission board. Most likely something like, "an artificial sharingan" or "a chakra-less genjutsu". While Itachi was interested in those things, Kisame had always found them to be rather pointless. Why would anyone, Itachi most of all, want to create an artificial sharingan when he already had the real one, one that was probably much better anyway?

Back to the topic at hand. The leader wanted him to go into the game?! Was he insane? They'd only lose another member to the game. If Itachi couldn't, or wouldn't come out of the game, did he really think Kisame could stand up to the pressure? Who knew if this game was some type of suctioning force that blacked-holed people in and refused to let them out? Or something akin to the compelling World of Warcraft that Itachi had been addicted to for a year and a half? (Not that Kisame had ever discovered the 'greatness' of WoW…)

But he had to admit—he was curious. What was this game like? How exactly had it managed to make it neigh impossible for Itachi to come out? He needed to see, and in the end, curiosity won over.

An hour later, after much fumbling with the Greed Island mess, Kisame found himself in the game. Once the rules were explained to him, he cringed. This was an insanely good, or bad, depending on whose view you were taking, system. He couldn't make a single call to the outside world to inform them to not come in, and he couldn't find a single loophole that would lead him out of the place. _Me 'n Itachi are screwed._

When asked about his partner, he'd thought for a while on it.

Frelch Eitel, he decided in the end. The leader could have a taste of his own medicine.

* * *

"Goddammit! You got me into this mess. What the hell did you—" 

"I did not get you into this mess. The system did."

"What? Don't you—"

"I was not intending on summoning you. The system brought you here instead of my designated 'partner'."

Killua huffed, turning away in annoyance.

"Remember our deal. For every bit of information I give about the game, you have to—"

"No. You said nen facts will be exchanged for chakra facts. Not facts about the game."

"Then you propose we make another deal?"

"Fiiine! You tell me about the game and I…"

"You can tell me one Zoldick family secret for every fact I tell about the game."

Killua nodded in concord, then grinned broadly. This was perfect—he could just expose some pieces of information he'd normally have used as blackmail against his brothers. Minute, idiotic details that would never harm the family business, not that he'd care if the family business toppled anyway.

The two of them continued walking. Dirt roads turned to city streets, broad freeways to trails obscured by reeds. Silence reigned, as both were tense around strangers. More villages, towns, and cities were passed. Then, a blaring, jolting sign brought Killua to a halt. The sign read:

_Otogakure (Hidden Sound)-- 2.5m east  
Sunagakure (Hidden Sand)-- 18.9m west  
Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud) -- 16.5m south  
Iwagakure (Hidden Rock)– 5.2m southeast_

Otogakure. Otogakure. That couldn't have existed in this artificial world, yet—

"There have been attempted recreations of nearly every hidden village to mirror their past lives. War is rampant. One fact from you."

"Ugh...my brother Milluki…has a daily diet of 210g of saturated fat, 110g of monosaturated and polysaturated fat, 500mg of cholesterol, 800mg of sodium, and far too many carbohydrates to boot." Killua grinned cheerily, knowing that no one, repeat, no one, especially not this far-too-serious shinobi, wanted to know about his brother's disgusting eating habits.

Itachi narrowed his eyes and gritted out, "Killua. I expect—"

"You said facts. So I gave you facts. Don't—"

"I want useful facts. Not the a report of your brother's daily…kitchen raids."

"Ahh…and your definition of 'useful'? And aren't you curious as to how—"

"Killua. Do not play dumb with me." A warning.

"Fine. My family has a big inhuman guard dog named Mike. If you're breaking into the house, stay outta his way."

"I have never once heard of a 'human' dog, Killua."

"Don't play dumb with me, Itachi. Fact from you. You deliver twenty facts in a row and then I'll deliver that same amount."

Itachi consented, conjuring up his binder with a bark of 'book'. He flipped around until he reached the 'Current Active Factions of Greed Island' card. The card was developed relatively recently, after the development of the numerous royalist, socialist, communist, what-ever-you-name-it-ist groups. Itachi had no use for the card, but keeping up with politics was important. One never knew when one group might be close to leaving and be in need of some 'threatening.'

A quick mutter of 'gain' transformed the CAFoGI card into a scroll covered with miniscule chicken scratch. Whoever kept the GI records obviously had no eye for good handwriting. He glanced over it again, checking for updates of the current crisis of the Big Five Shinobi Nations.

* * *

**CURRENT ACTIVE FACTIONS OF GREED ISLAND**

* * *

_** Jan 8.** Kumo has underground rebel organization called OM (Oedipus's Messengers)_

_** Jan 10.** 9:00 - OM rumored to be a hidden faction among Kumo's government.  
18:49 - OM, partnered with Oto, invades Suna._

_**Jan 12.** HBH (Hyuuga Branch House) secures alliance with OM for unknown reasons._

_**Jan 15.** OM member found to have HBH curse seal repealing strengths._

_**Jan 18.** HBH (3 members) offers an ultimatum to HMH (Hyuuga Main House, 2 members) listing the following conditions:  
__ -Curse seals must be removed  
__ -HBH should be allowed to break away_

_**Jan 19.** HMH rejects ultimatum and seeks help from Konoha's ANBU (1 member). Iwa provides aid (2 ANBU members) to Hyuuga Main House._

_**Jan 20.** The KSI powers (KonohaSunaIwa) declares war on Kumo to aid Suna. Kumo rumored to be in alliance with Ame, Ame rumored to be on  
__good terms with Konoha (note: **paradox**). Civil war from Hyuuga troubles ensues in Konoha._

* * *

Itach's brows furrowed. Plenty had changed in the last three days when he had not bothered to check the card. There was now not only war, but an utter mess of alliances, secret alliances, and civil wars. How any group of fools could be stupid enough to engage in war when there was a whole real world out there to get to was beyond Itachi. Obviously not a single one of these shinobi had been drilled in the art of working together to achieve a common goal. 

"Now, fourteen facts from you."

Killua groaned.

* * *

**(1) –**That's just Gon's thoughts. Kisame just ran off too quickly for Gon to notice and Gon thought Kisame had "disappeared" the same way Killua did. 

**(2) – **Greed Island will a bit different from what it was in the original manga (ex: the need for a partner outside of the game), but it still helps to have read the GI arc.

**Notes: **Itachi's reasons for using Killua will eventually be revealed. And for the plot of future chapters, keep in mind that: Konoha is being screwed. Oto is about to be screwed. Akatsuki is already screwed.


	4. Missing!

**Chapter 4 – Missing!**

**Lawyers: **I hereby declare that I do not possess a single fiber of either Naruto or HxH.

**Summary (of previous chapter):** Killua is accidentally 'summoned' by Itachi who is in Greed Island and is informed that getting out of the Greed Island is impossible. He discovers the quagmire of wars that the newly developed Shinobi Countries in GI are involved in. Kabuto discovers some interesting facts about the Akatsuki, Gon is worried, and the Akatsuki leader is pissed.

**Peter Kim: **Well, I'm not sure if I'll be able to fit Biscuit in here. I'll try, but I think Gon and Killua could probably improve well enough on their own and still develop those same abilities. I'm leaning towards Killua training with Itachi and Gon with Orochimaru. And yep, the Akatsuki leader is a hunter. More on that to come…

**Star:** Hehehe, more Itachi/Illumi comparisons to come. :-)

**Notes:** Quoted from last chapter: "Konoha is being screwed. Oto is about to be screwed. Akatsuki is already screwed."

* * *

**CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS **

* * *

**Classified by: **Maito Gai 

**Level:** (3) Confidential  
**Reason:** 142-2(a), 151-4(b), and Executive Order 692-12  
**Declassify on:** pending  
**Auth. Code**: #51642

**Subject: **Hatake Kakashi—Reported missing.

**Issue: **Subject last seen on January 20th at 15:04 by Maito Gai. Reported to be reading Icha Icha Paradise when a strange energy (not chakra) surrounded him and caused him to disappear in a flash. No appearance of subject thereafter.

* * *

**Classified by: **Shiranui Genma 

**Level:** (3) Confidential  
**Reason:** 142-2(a), 151-4(b), and Executive Order 692-12  
**Declassify on:** pending  
**Auth. Code**: #51643

**Subject: **Morino Ibiki —Reported missing.

**Issue: **Subject last seen on January 20th at 18:27 by Shiranui Genma. Reported to be at Ichiraku when a flash of unknown energy caused subject to disappear. No appearance of subject thereafter.

* * *

Tsunade was shaking as she read the report. Missing? _Missing? _How could two of her most _important _jounins be _missing_?! Konoha was utterly screwed—war fervor was rising in Oto, and Kakashi and Ibiki had just disappeared into the mist? And Konoha's strongest clan—the Hyuuga—already a-fourth gone? She clutched her head, reaching beneath her desk for a well-deserved bottle of sake, hoping it'd wash away Konoha's wartime troubles. 

Missing…more sake…gone…missing-nins…two jounins…war with Oto…The words blurred and twisted in her mind as the sake found its way down her throat. An odd voice then washed over her troubled musings—"Hey old hag, you called us here at this freaking hour? It's midnight, for heaven's sake!"

Tsunade glanced up from behind her giant vat of sake, barely making out Naruto's face, and muttered incoherently, "Read…Kakashi…Ibiki…missing. Want you…find Kakashi…bring 'im back…I'll…send 'nother…team for Ibiki…"

"Tsunade-shishou? What do you mean Kakashi-sensei's missing? Has he been captured?"

"Unnnh…No. Read…report…"

Sakura shook her head at Tsunade's sake-induced antics. One would think that a Hokage would quit drinking on duty, but Tsunade was no typical Hokage. She tightly grasped the report Tsunade handed to her and her brows furrowed at the slightly damp (sake-soaked, she was sure) report—there was very little information to start their search on.

"This is…this is…" Sakura began.

"Weird." Naruto finished.

"Yes…yes…tomorrow at seven…you two will commence…your search…"

"Just the two of us, Tsunade-shishou?"

"Yes…just the two…"

"Don't worry old hag! We'll find him and send whoever brought him away to oblivion!" Naruto, the king of brash declarations, was shouting at the top of his lungs, oblivious to the number of people currently asleep.

Nonetheless, Sakura smiled ruefully, not sure what to say against Naruto's unwavering confidence. There obviously wasn't much information in their favor—the most they could do for now was ask Maito Gai, but he surely would've written more in his report had he actually known more about the problem. It was after all, his eternal rival, and a nonexistent rival wasn't an eternal one.

The next morning, the first thing the two did was seek out Gai. They had full confidence that he'd be up—Maito Gai, the emperor of hard work, would never miss a day of training, rain or shine. Sure enough, he was in his usual place, busy critiquing Lee's taijutsu.

"Gai-sensei! We've got a mission and we need your help!" Naruto's voice, unable to be missed, clattered through the fields.

Gai turned around in surprise, "Ahh…the lovable youth of Konoha! What may I aid you in?" Gai flashed them a smile.

"Well," Sakura cut in, unsure of Naruto's ability to explain their mission flawlessly, "we just received a mission to locate and retrieve Kakashi-sensei, and you were the last person to have seen him. We—"

"Oh…so you are seeking out my eternal rival? Hmmm…the last I remember was him being shrouded in a foreign energy and disappearing…And I was just about to give him the ultimate challenge of the year too! To think that he'd disappear beforehand…he must be scheming against me! But that is no reason to disappear from Konoha altogether! And—"

"Gai-sensei—"

"—my challenge was so intricate, so enwrapping! I'm sure my eternal rival would never have left had he heard the—"

"Gai-sensei—"

Gai paused for a moment in his monologue, taking a deep breath. He turned to Sakura, face much calmer. "Yes?"

"Could you describe this energy to us? Colors, shapes, chakra-similarities?"

"Oh yes, yes…it was transparent…but I sensed that it was definitely not chakra…Ahhh! I see! My eternal rival must've been creating a new jutsu! He is obviously trying to show off to the world! I swear I shall beat him in this jutsu-creating game! I too will create a—"

"Thank you, Gai-sensei. Naruto and I will…uh…look into this at the Hokage's office." Sakura forced a smile onto her face, hoping that Gai would stop his rambling and turn his attentions toward his student. She and Naruto were definitely going to have a lot of research to do. The worst-case scenario would be if Kakashi had truly been trying to create a new jutsu—there would be no other reports on this 'foreign' energy and the best person to ask about the jutsu's properties—the jutsu's creator, Kakashi—was gone.

Sakura grabbed Naruto, fully intent on dragging him to the Hokage's office for some more research. Naruto's head looked up in the clouds, almost as if he hadn't bothered to pay attention in their earlier trials with Gai. Sakura's anger was rising—and was about to burst in the form of a blow to Naruto's head when—

"Hey…Sakura-chan…I heard that Neji and Hinata have disappeared too…You think Kakashi-sensei's disappearance is related?"

Another wave of pain found itself plaguing Sakura's mind. "They've…disappeared as well? We should probably ask Tsunade-shishou…let's just hope she's not drunk this time…" The last part she muttered more to herself as a memo than to Naruto. But he caught on anyway and grinned cheekily in reply. Sakura had no idea if his grin meant that he thought Tsunade's actions were befitting of a Hokage (she sincerely hoped not) or that he was using it as an excuse when he himself stepped up to the Hokage status and drank on duty.

When they did arrive, the Hokage appeared to be in a perfectly crabby mood, still caught up in whatever hangover she'd been inflicted with that morning. She didn't spare them much of a glance before muttering, "What'cha want?"

Sakura, after all those years of training under Tsunade, knew that it was pointless to get on her nerves when she was in a high-strung mood. But it was obvious Naruto didn't know better. He found the Hokage's comment rude and promptly retorted, "Old hag! You oughta offer us some help 'n not be all rude like tha'!"

"Don't you disrespect me, brat!"

"Like you were anymore respectful just right now! And drinking on duty! I could make a better Hokage than you—at least I don't drink! No wait, I _know_ I'd make a better Hokage than you!"

"Oh, what do you know, you brat! You—"

"Tsunade-shishou," Sakura cut in, knowing that they could go on for hours if she didn't, "we…uh, came to look for some more information about Kakashi-sensei's disappearance. Naruto has mentioned that Neji and Hinata have disappeared as well. Is that connected to this?"

"Uhh," Tsunade grunted, "That's what I'd thought…their reports are in that pile over there. But frankly, they're not much help—about the same as Gai's report."

Sakura nodded absently as she reached for the report, now fully understanding Tsunade's reason for a sake excursion. If shinobi kept on disappearing, or if word somehow leaked out to Oto, Orochimaru would attack without a second thought. Moreover, Sakura was sure that these random disappearances had something to do with the Otokage—after all, why would anyone want to wipe out a fourth of the Hyuugas, the infamous Copy Ninja, and Morino Ibiki, the Captain of the Torture and Interrogation squad? If the perpetrator wasn't prepping for a war by weakening Konoha's forces, she wasn't sure what they were up to.

But then there was a nagging voice in her mind that asked just why hadn't Oto attacked them already if they knew Konoha was weak? It was obvious that Oto didn't know yet, so it couldn't be Oto's doing.

Sakura clutched her head. Another day of thinking like this, she'd end up finding Tsunade's sake very very tempting.

* * *

Tsunade wasn't sure what to do. She did need to send their newly garnered blond shinobi on a mission that would test his skills, and it was obvious that a D-class mission wouldn't do. But currently, in all of Konoha's wartime quandaries, there wasn't a single C-class mission that didn't have some amount of classified info involved. She was just going to have to take a chance, lie a bit (no, scratch that, lie **a lot**), and send the boy on a search-and-rescue mission for Morino Ibiki. 

She took a deep breath and motioned for Kurapika to come in.

"I'm sending you on a search-and-rescue mission for a twenty-six-year-old _genin _by the name of Morino Ibiki," she said, and then promptly handed him a picture of Morino Ibiki. She was pretty sure he wouldn't recognize the face—there hadn't been a single mug shot of Ibiki's for the last ten years, and most of the tension with the Sound had taken after that.

The boy nodded in consent. "I will try my best, Hokage-sama. Are there any particular leads that I can start with?"

"They're all in these files—" she handed him a folder "—Good luck. This is your first C-class mission."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama."

Kurapika was exultant. He, after a long series of rescuing cats, gardens, and wild villagers from their demise, was finally being sent on a C-class mission! The trust issue was definitely a lot slower than it had been with the Nostrads—but it was expected, as Konoha wasn't in as desperate as Nostrad had been.

The files in the folder he'd received had described a strange energy—something that sounded suspiciously like nen. He was pretty sure there were only two types of energy in the world—nen and chakra. Therefore, if a shinobi skilled in chakra manipulation had found the energy to be not chakra, then it could only be nen. Which meant that whoever was sending these people away were most likely not shinobi, but Hunters. Or self-taught nen-users, but those were rare.

A nagging voice in the back of his mind told him that perhaps the Ryodan had finally decided to strike. He decided to leave that in the arsenal of possibilities for the genin's evaporation into thin air.

He closed his eyes, mind wandering off on tangents about the Ryodan. Working with Mafia lords who worshipped power had brought him back to reality somewhat—what right did he have to deliver justice to a group of criminals when he himself was allying with another group of criminals? Even now he didn't feel any more justified. This was a shinobi village he was working with, and they got their money by, no sugarcoating here, killing. Brutally murdering the trump cards of their enemies, regardless of whether it was a child or an innocent whose life was being taken.

And Kurapika was about to do the same to the Ryodan. A group of humans, he had to remind himself (all the while thinking of Ubogin's adamant loyalty), not a congregation of monsters. He hadn't bothered to understand their reasons for the death of his clan—hadn't looked below the surface matters.

He remembered his apathy towards Neon, yes; Neon who collected body parts for amusement and then his lack of guilt afterwards. Why was it that he felt nothing when he saw her absurdly revolting habits? Why hadn't he felt the same kind of anger towards her as he did the Ryodan? Was he this blind—so blind that he was unable to realize Neon was a threat, perhaps a worse threat than the Ryodan? She was far more selfish than Ubogin, Kurapika's single experience with a member of the Ryodan.

There was a part of Ubogin's obstinate, almost protective nature that reminded Kurapika of Gon. Of Gon's bouts against Hanzo, of Gon's vowed rescue of Leorio and himself. Every moment longer he'd spent watching Ubogin deny him the information he'd wanted was replaced with watching Gon's declaration of never giving up. Was Ubogin just a glorified, misdirected version of Gon then?

"Are you done with that file?"

Kurapika looked up, realized that someone was speaking to him, and thanked the gods for a distraction. He had a mission, he told himself, and a goal. Getting sidetracked was not part of the objective.

"Oh, yes. Here you go. Are you helping to search for Morino Ibiki as well?"

The pink-haired girl who had just been posed the question gave him a strange look. "Um…no. But I believe we have a case similar to Ibiki's."

Kurapika nodded, and sent a brief smile. "Another case of strange energy?"

"Ahh…yes, precisely so," the girl replied, shooting him a warm smile. A smile so genuine, so very different than the smirks he'd gotten from his colleagues at Yorkshin. Then again, perhaps this had something to do with the innocence of young age—she couldn't be much older than him (fifteen, sixteen?) while his colleagues at Yorkshin had been fully grown adults. She probably hadn't weathered the toils of shinobi society or dealt with mass-murdering A-class criminals.

Then the boy next to the girl spoke in a brash, ear-splitting voice, "You got any leads?"

Kurapika shrugged. "Not much. Just that the energy seems familiar."

"Familiar? Really? Oooh…enlighten us!" The boy was shouting now, blue eyes bright with anticipation.

Kurapika paused. Should he explain? It wasn't that he didn't want them to know about nen, no. There was just a worried feeling in the back of his mind—what if these two found out about his hatsu? _I can't be that stupid_, he decided, _they're not going to know._ "Have you ever heard of nen? I suspect the 'unknown' energy surrounding them before they disappeared is just that."

"Nen?" The boy's face scrunched up in confusion, reminding Kurapika of Gon's expression whenever he was faced with a particularly daunting math problem.

"Yes…nen is…rather hard to explain. I could outline it, but I think I know a place where we can get more information on their disappearance without getting into the technical details of nen."

"That sounds good."

* * *

A lingering fear was manifesting in the back of Killua's mind as the two of them traded facts—his father had warned him over and over again that he was not ever to associate himself with the man, and especially not as an enemy. 

At some point in his father's long lecture, he'd mentioned that Itachi was a resourceful man—murdering only when it benefited him to do so, and not just because he relished in the bloody, gory details. That was a mirror image of Illumi. Then, his father had made a paradoxical, and equally frightening, statement—Itachi also murdered to "test his limits," hence the reason his clan had been slaughtered. And that was a mirror image of Hisoka.

The Hisoka-half was probably worse—the unpredictability of his nature drove Killua's structured, step-by-step mind into a quandary. But the methodical, inhuman tactics of Illumi weren't exactly healthy to live with either. And now, he'd met a Hisoka and Illumi combo—definitely someone to shy away from.

So why was Killua here again? Info had been the main reason…but getting info from the sum of Hisoka and Illumi was like inviting the Ebola virus to infect your body. The logical side of him was urging him to—

"Does that happen often?" It was business-like, an unmistakably Illumi tone of voice.

What were they talking about earlier again? Oh, yes. Attacks on the Zoldick mansion. "Often enough that we got a guard dog."

"Nnn." Itachi shoved more food into his mouth. It was a mechanical gesture, one that matched perfectly with his bland face, Killua decided, much like a robot. He couldn't help wonder though—what did Itachi gain by helping him out? Facts about the Zoldicks weren't that interesting, nor very useful. They could be obtained on numerous Hunters websites, for a minimal fee.

Small talk was needed now. He had to complete their conversation. Smalltalksmalltalksmalltalk…"Err…Itachi, how long have you been in Greed Island?"

"Two months and two weeks."

Killua mentally mumbled a string of curses. This man was not giving him any conversation starters! Normally he was perfectly comfortable with silence—learning to kill had taught him the value of not opening one's big mouth. He couldn't count on his fingers the number of times Illumi had forced him to play an assassin's version of hide-and-seek—usually it involved a maxim—either successfully ambush his other siblings or be sent to the electrocution room with Milluki. But now his patience was wearing thin—he couldn't swallow a single bite of food as the man's red eyes bored into him. Why couldn't the damned freak stop staring?!

He needed to tell the guy off—no one was this rude. "Don't you find it rude to watch someone eat?"

"Killua-san, I was not watching you eat. Your observation skills ought to be improved." It was a cold, blunt rebuke, akin to Illumi's tone when Killua had done something outside of specified parameters. He remembered the one time he'd tried to fraternize with Kanaria, and then afterwards Illumi's voice that had been laced with an apathetic, cold fury. That had been the day that had ignited Killua's utter fear of his older brother.

"Killua, what do you know of the Hidden Villages?" Now Itachi had switched back to the business-like, bargaining Illumi-voice, leaving Killua relieved that the remnants of cold fury were gone.

"Not much," he answered truthfully. There was no need to lie. He would gladly tell all secrets that he knew about the Sound (which was next to nothing) in exchange for his or Gon's life.

"You need to be informed."

"I know that. I do know some things though."

Itachi seemed to have caught on that Killua wasn't willing to divulge what he knew. He surmised it had something to do with a matter of leverage later on, which he found pitiable—being a missing-nin of Konoha, he obviously knew plenty more about a certain hidden village, meaning that he had far more leverage than Killua could ever hope to gain.

But it was important that Killua was informed. The boy was useless otherwise. "What exactly do you know?" he gritted out, "Was the 'Current Active Factions of Greed Island' card comprehensible?"

Killua thought back to the card, almost unwilling to admit that he didn't recognize ninety percent of the names on it. He then voiced his thoughts, "Oto was mentioned—I worked there."

Orochimaru. Itachi's mind whirled. If Oto was hiring a Zoldick, that had to mean their current forces were not enough. And since the bulk of their current forces was comprised of missing-nin from the Five Big Shinobi Countries, there must've been a lower output of missing-nins recently, which meant that the Big Five had probably grown stronger. Which made it all the worse for Akatsuki.

Unless, of course, Akatsuki found a way to ally with one of the Big Five. Sand was out of the question; their Kazekage was a jinchuuriki. Konoha was equally out of question—one, Itachi originated from there, and two, Naruto, another jinchuuriki, resided there. Cloud was inaccessible as well—they had just recently captured Yugito, the second strongest shinobi in her nation, and her bijuu the Nibi. That left Stone and Mist, the origins of Deidara and Kisame. Also impossible, unless they were willing to lose either of the two members.

Itachi glanced at Killua again, noticed the scrutinizing and slightly confused look, and decided to speak, "Oto, mm. Was there a blue-skinned man there?"

Killua raised an eyebrow before muttering, "Yeah. What's it to you?"

"He should've come in your place."

Killua observed Itachi vigilantly, wondering if his monotonous words were the inauguration of an accusation. The man's face offered no explanation; it was as blank as ever. He needed to shift the blame off himself: "It was your _partner_'s fault. He was performing handseals just before I got 'summoned'. He somehow directed the teleportation nen headed towards himself to me."

"Kisame's lucky then," Itachi stated gravely. Kisame being there would've been futile—the Mist swordsman had no extensive knowledge of escape jutsus, and would only serve to drag Itachi down with his brash, do-before-thinking nature. This boy, though infuriating and downright _childish _at times, was a more suitable partner, he realized. At least the twelve-year-old was rational and wary when it counted.

"Damn him then. I would've much preferred it if your statement had come true."

"As would I. Tell me then, what was he doing there?" Itachi's curiosity was unable to be crushed. The leader had never overtly asked any of them to infiltrate Oto; all dealings with the Sound had been through (the rather traitorous?) Kabuto. Therefore, by asking Kisame to perform a reconnaissance mission…was Akatsuki keen to declare war on Oto?

Killua took no notice of Itachi's curiosity (even a legendary Zoldick was unable to read an adroit Uchiha's poker face, after all) and looked slightly vexed while grumbling, "You're his partner, for godsake. You of all people ought to—"

"I'll remind you I was in the game for the last two months." Itachi wasn't sure if the kid was being stupid or just difficult. Either way, it didn't bode well with him; he wanted answers, and he was going to get them. Mangekyou was an evident waste of chakra, but there was a myriad of other ways at his disposal that he'd learned from Ibiki before his defection—

"Then I'll remind you that I'm not a member of whatever organization you and your partner belong to," Killua retorted, slightly incensed that he was being interrogated on a matter in which he truly held no knowledge on.

* * *

Sakura had in her hands a thick stash of printouts, courtesy of a blonde hunter. Currently, she was sitting next to Naruto (who had just wolfed down his seventh bowl of ramen), attempting to decipher her stash's contents.

* * *

**THE HUNTER'S GUIDE TO RECORDED HATSU, SORTED BY CATEGORY (Tele-Zap)**

* * *

**Creator: **Tomino, Hajime 

**Hunter ID:** #25156-15

**Hatsu ID:** #01562-612-513a

**Hatsu Name: **Dance of the Barnsley's Fern

**Keyword(s): **Teleportation

**Description: **By repeating the creation of the Barnsley's Fern (see footnote 1), a condensed point is created. That condensed point holds enormous pressure, thus allowing the Barnsley's Fern to rip apart the subject to be teleported and recreate said subject elsewhere. The more Barnsley's Ferns are created, the more nen is used and the farther the subject will be teleported.

* * *

**Creator: **Freecs, Gin 

**Hunter ID:** #24151-12

**Hatsu ID:** #01562-612-513b

**Hatsu Name: **GI-000

**Keyword(s): **Teleportation

**Description: **

Fuses die about Suna village.  
Shukaku seen, learning to pillage.  
Done with the killing, Shukaku says.  
Bring me in the village that I wish to protect.

Fumes rising at Konoha now.  
Nine-tailed foxes, roaming about.  
Killing spree's over, Kyuubi says.  
My dream's to be Hokage, claims the new nine-tails runt.

Fumes whirling around Kumo center.  
Two-tailed cats twirling to enter.  
Madness is done, Nekomata purrs.  
Time to relive the shinobis' glory.

"Jinchuurikis!" the new saying goes.  
Saviors of our villages from the boorish biijus.  
"Jinchuurikis!" the new saying goes.  
We'll protect you from the Akatsuki to repay all our debts.

The power of human sacrifice resides quietly in each village.  
But when the red clouds group strikes  
Clawing its way through  
The jinchuurikis band to save all

Years and decades and centuries on end  
Jinchuuriki seen as rabid monsters o'er 'n over again.  
Monsters they may hold but monsters they are not.  
For the fate of the world rests in their hands.

Sooner or later this ideal of equality  
Must begin to manifest in our humanity  
For if it does not plant and sow,  
Our lives will end and never begin.

Monsters we call them but monsters we are too:  
For it was our creation that dubbed them their name.  
Our human sacrifice a carcass and another a killer.  
Surely this respect must be dealt out soon?

END

— GI

* * *

Sakura had been busy looking at the second hatsu (id _#01562-612-513b_) by Gin Freecs, which she was sure was a riddle of some sort. She'd tried numerous patterns to crack the data—from the standard Academy "every-other-letter" pattern to its variations the "every-third, fourth, fifth and so on letter" patterns. Then she'd tried the chuunin-level "plus a constant subtract another constant" pattern as well as the jounin-level "constant-squared" and "2 to the power of a constant" patterns. 

Naruto, on the other hand, was busy cheering for the content of the poem/riddle and the generous praise it had lavished upon jinchuurikis. "Yeah! Look at this! It even has a specific entry on me! ME! The soon-to-be Rokudaime Hokage! Ahahaha!"

Just as he seemed about ready to do a dance, Sakura gave him a withering glare, hoping he'd calm down and start helping them on finding patterns to solving the riddle.

No such luck. Naruto just continued grinning cheekily in her direction all the while offering no help whatsoever on finding the original content. "Hahaha! I'm gonna be the greatest Hokage of all time. This thing's like a prophecy, didn't you know that, Sakura-chan? I bet that's what it's trying to hide—the fact that it's a prophe—"

Her fist connected to his head, and he was left clutching it, complaining and grumbling.

"But Sakura-chaaaa—"

"Quit your flubbing and hurry up help me—"

"Fwibbing? Fwubbing? Ehhh? Whash's sha' shupposha' mean?" was Naruto's oh-so-graceful reply through a mouthful of ramen.

Sakura's eyes widened in realization. Naruto had just given her a clue, albeit inadvertently. And it seemed to fit the sequence perfectly—not too large like the constant-squared pattern and not to small like the plus-a-constant pattern. _Perfect! Now to try it…_

**Notes:** That poem's really lame, I know. It did take a loooonng time to write out though (I even had to write a program to count up all the letters correctly to fit the code—ugh). I left it there without Sakura's solution. Anyone who wants to try to find a solution, the clue is from Naruto's "fwibbing". And also, remember zero, first and foremost, not one.


	5. Two Discoveries

**Peter Kim:** Yeah, we don't know Gin's abilities yet. But he obviously had to do something to create Greed Island, so my assumption is that he did something with teleportation. And since Gin wants to shroud himself in mystery, he describes his nen ability in a code.

Hmm…I think I'll have Gon and Killua improve just as much without Biscuit's training—it can't fully stick to the manga, or it'll be boring. Gon will eventually go to Greed Island, but not yet. Killua will have to "partner-summon" him for him to go, and Killua's not going to do that to his friend unless he's desperate (or sure that he can leave). And keep in mind that my Greed Island is quite a bit different than the canon's.

Oh, and perhaps you could leave an email so it's easier to respond:-) (I know the current in-story answering of reviews is not allowed)

**Notes:** If you didn't read Itachi's _Current Active Factions of Greed Island_ card carefully, then keep in mind that the Hyuuga Branch House in Greed Island are attempting to take advantage of a Kumo nin's ability to suppress the branch house seal to revolt against the main house.

* * *

"That's it! That's it!" 

"Eh? What happened, Sakura-chan?"

"1,1,2,3,5,8,13 …yes, **yes**!"

"Huh? Sakura-chan? Did you figure it out?"

She flashed him a grin, "Yep."

"Woah, woah! Sakura-chan's so smart! Howdja do it?"

"Look at the first sentence, Naruto. 'Fuses die about Suna village.' The 'F' in 'Fuses' is the zeroth letter, the 'u' the first, the 's' the second and so on. The poem follows the Fibonacci sequence of 1,1,2,3,5,8,13, where each number is the sum of the two numbers before it. Therefore, if the first, second, third, fifth, eight, and thirteenth (and so on) letters are underlined, the hidden message is revealed."

Naruto's face was scrunched up in concentration—_what the heck was a zeroth letter?_— he finally settled for a simple, "That's so cool, Sakura-chan! So what's the hidden message?"

"It's 'Used as an entrance' and if I assume correctly, I think Freecs-san is referring to 'Used as an entrance to GI.' Basically it looks like this:

F**use**s **d**ie **a**bout **S**una vill**a**ge.  
Shukaku see**n**, learning to pillage.  
Don**e** with the killing, Shukaku says.  
Bring me i**n** the village that I wish to protect.  
…  
Nine-**t**ailed foxes, roaming about.  
My dream's to be Hokage, claims the new nine-tails **r**unt.  
…  
S**a**viors of our villages from the boorish biijus.  
…  
The jinchuurikis ba**n**d to save all  
…  
Our human sacrifice a car**c**ass and another a killer.  
…  
**E**ND

—**GI**

"GI? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, that's what we're trying to find out. Here, you can look through half of the rest of the stack for any info on GI or that Barnsley Fern thing in the first entry. I'll go through the other half." Sakura handed Naruto a thick stack, before reminding him, "Oh, and don't forget any consecutive words that start with 'G' or 'I'."

"Okay!" Naruto grabbed the stack, flipping through it ever-so-casually. Sakura sighed, hoping that Naruto was actually taking this seriously. Of course, she had seen Naruto be serious—he could do that quite well had he actually thought highly of the task, which really wasn't all that often.

* * *

"Disappeared? Are you sure of this?" 

"Very much so, Orochimaru-sama."

"When was he last seen then?"

"According to Gon, he was last seen in our library of scrolls, accompanied by Kisame, who later disappeared in the same manner."

Orochimaru nodded, thoroughly amused. Everything had ended in his favor, although it hadn't gone quite according to plan. Originally he had sent for the two boys because he knew they were attracted by money. The naïve one, called Gon, had instantly taken up his offer and then proceeded to drag the Zoldick along. He then hoped to implant a curse seal on the Zoldick, knowing that his past would lead him to easily free himself of moral inhibitions and do Orochimaru's bid. Now, he realized he had an even better subject to work with—this innocent Gon was raw material—perfect to mold into whatever he pleased.

"Kabuto, proceed with plan 082-A on Gon."

Kabuto consented, and Orochimaru couldn't help but smile. The Akatsuki, he realized, were a pathetic bunch of fools. How they could have failed to see that abnormal activity in the brain's amygdala and orbito-frontal cortex** (1)** should not have been a mental _disease_ to be frowned upon, but rather a freedom to be embraced? Fools, the lot of them…

* * *

Kakashi had been sure he was stuck in some sort of elaborate genjutsu. However, attempts to release it with _kai_ as well as counters with the Sharingan were both unsuccessful, leaving him to contemplate the possibility that his surroundings were real. 

Eventually, after a twenty-four-hour-long expedition around what he had now learned to call "Greed Island" and a nice lecture from someone who'd introduced herself as Riza, he'd realized he was totally, utterly screwed. Unless, of course, this lady was lying (which he _highly_ doubted after seeing the remarks of nearby people), he could say goodbye to Konoha for a while. Even worse than that—there was no Icha Icha book to keep him company! He lamented dropping his prized porn on the way into the game…

Over the last few hours, he'd had some fun messing around with the few cards he had in his possession—one of them being the ubiquitous "LIST" card. Out of boredom, he'd listed the players in possession of every single card he had.

_…Matsura Hatori  
Boris Novgrod  
Haruhi Igarashi…_

And god, the lists were long.

_…Lucci Votgetri  
Oturan Ikamuzu…_

He scrutinized the last name. It was familiar…very familiar. Wait. That was Otur...an...Uzumu...Uzumaki Naruto spelt backwards! Someone here obviously knew Naruto, and thought quite highly of the boy, or at least highly enough to name themselves after him. He remembered the Hokage mentioning several Hyuuga who had disappeared, and he was sure they'd somehow been sucked into this hellhole. He wasn't sure if Neji or Hinata had been among the missing, but if there was someone here with such a name, it was quite likely one of the two.

That decided it. Next order of business: track Oturan down.

Oh wait, scratch that. Next order of business: figure out _how_ to track Oturan down. He wasn't sure if he ought to take the chance of summoning his nin dogs—one, he had nothing to hint at Oturan's scent, and two, there was a lingering chance that his nin dogs would be stuck in this make-believe fantasy game as well. It'd be better to do some old-fashioned searching, something he hadn't done in—

"Hey you! You're new to this game, aren't cha?"

Kakashi turned abruptly, forcing himself into a defensive stance. The man who'd addressed him was on the short side, and had a lopsided grin plastered to his face, reminding him uncannily of Orochimaru. Never a good sign.

"And so what if I am?" Better to sound cocky than intimidated.

"Ahhh, well," the man paused for a moment before replying, "me 'n my buddies o'er there, we got a sure way ta clear the game. You come with us, we'll guarantee that you'll make it outta here within—"

"Sorry, do I look gullible to you?"

"Well, you can always follow me and let my buddies explain the facts. Then you can decide if ya wanna join."

_Shinobi Rule #16: Never fall victim to ordeals that sound too good to be true._ But really, could it hurt to just listen? They could be looking to ambush him, but with his three-card binder, who would bother? And he did need at least some information if he intended on eventually finding a way out…Still. There was nothing wrong with playing hard-to-get.

"And if your intent was to ambush me?"

"Eh? Well…it's your choice I s'ppose…but if ya understood the dynamics of the game, ya wouldn't be so keen on workin' alone."

"Ahh, but I _do_ understand. The dynamics of the game are precisely why I _want_ to work alone."

Not true. Not true at all. But Kakashi was sure the man couldn't blame him for lying at a time like this. The game made it impossible to leave, sure, but he failed to see how working with more people would give him a higher chance of leaving. If that were the case, then surely the hordes of folks lining Greed Island's streets would've unionized by now?

"Then ya don't really understand the pro'lem. This Island's creator, Gin Freecs, had a purpose ta the game tha' wasn't revealed at first. But then me 'n my buddies kinda hacked around 'n we gotta a way ta reach the outside world 'n we found out o' the point ta the game—we're s'ppose ta work together 'n learn ta share resources and stuff 'n that'll cause the leave card ta activate 'n—"

Kakashi was fully ready to roll his eyes. If these desperate fools had _really_ gotten contact to the outside world, wouldn't the first thing they'd do be to find out how to _leave_ rather than researching the creator's philosophy? And this "Leave" card had been working fine before, with no implications of people working together, so obviously sharing resources wasn't going to get them anywhere.

The man continued to drone on and on about the benefits of working with his group, making, Kakashi believed, quite the fitting advertiser. Perhaps, if they ever got out of his hellhole of a game, he could recommend the man to be Konoha's advertisement machine—the Leaf would rake a nice amount of missions from his big mouth.

"—'N we also currently 'ave the highest level cards needed ta leave the game wi' the normal rules—"

It was then that Kakashi noticed someone familiar—namely, Neji. _Great, at last. A connection to this unidentified 'Oturan'. _Holding up his hands in a quick apology to the advertiser, he murmured, "Don't worry, I'm sure your group is so well on the way to success that there's no need for an additional member like me," then grinned (invisibly), and promptly left to go seek out the Hyuuga, who currently looked deeply involved in conversation.

* * *

Neji had never liked the main house. That was a fact. But to accuse Neji of abhorring every single member of the main house—that was fiction. 

"Neji-kun, your help in this matter would be much appreciated," Houka, a fellow branch member, spoke.

Neji understood they wanted aid. He understood their hatred for the main house, and understood their need to free themselves. But he failed to understand how the man could remain so fixated on _politics_ between the two damn houses when they weren't even anywhere _near_ the real world. If this was Konoha, sure, he wouldn't mind helping. But this was just a copycat village—even if they freed themselves from the chains of the main house, they'd _never_ rid the bounds of this game.

"Houka-san, I know more men is needed in the rebellion, but I believe that we ought to consider matters thoroughly before proceeding. Surely there are more civil ways to solve things than war?"

"Ahh, Neji-kun, I know you wish to enact our rebellion after we have made it back to Konoha safely, but such a wish is impossible. This is our only chance to free ourselves from the seals—back in the real world, Kumo will not be our allies."

"Yes, but we also have a duty to Konoha. Konoha is on the fringes of war with Oto, and our duty requires that we find the fastest way to head back and provide aid."

"Perhaps. But we also have a duty to our clan, Neji-kun. And that requires that we stay put and take advantage of opportunities to make ourselves free."

Neji sighed. There was no convincing the man, was there?

"Houka-san…I would like some time to consider this matter before I make the decision. I'll give you my answer by tomorrow morning, alright?"

Houka nodded his approval, though Neji could tell that the man didn't really approve. In truth, Neji _wanted_ to agree. He could hardly forget the years and years of hating the main house—but back in his mind, the fight between him and Uzumaki Naruto still lingered. The half of him that concurred with Naruto had long decided that loyalty to Konoha came first, and loyalty to the clan second. _Especially_ in a situation that was likely to cost civilian lives. But the other half, the vengeance-crazy half, wanted to do as Houka prompted and get rid of the main house.

Not completely lost in his thoughts, Neji looked up, hearing a slight scuffle in the leaves. Silver hair glinted under the sun, and he instantly recognized who was hidden amongst the branches—it was his sensei's "eternal rival". It took a second for him to realize the meanings of the man being there—Konoha was probably losing at least one jounin a day. By the end of the month, Oto could have free reign over Fire Country without _any_ respectworthy resistance.

"Kakashi-san."

Kakashi shifted his position in the tree, as though he hadn't already been watching Neji, and replied, "Ah, Neji-san. Good—or I suppose bad—to see you here."

"Bad, I would say," Neji muttered, somewhat wearily.

"Indeed, indeed, not the best situation. Well, you've been here longer than me. Any clues as to how to get back?"

Neji shook his head. It was obviously a conversation-filler—as if him standing there was not obvious enough that he had not yet found a method to head home. In fact, he thought bitterly, not only did he have a lack of _clues_, he had an even bigger conundrum of _troubles_ with his clan.

It was then that (as though reading his mind) Kakashi cocked his head toward the makeshift Hyuuga compound and said, "Clan troubles?"

Neji nodded absentmindedly, all the while tilling the earth with his toe. Then he realized something—"Kakashi-san, do you think it's possible to aid the war effort while in this—this—_game_?" He loathed calling it a _game_; it was too realistic to boot.

Kakashi didn't look surprised, and promptly replied, "I suppose." Then he looked skywards, fingering his chin, as if deep in thought, before continuing, "Our partner summons."

Neji nearly rolled his eyes. As if _that_ explained everything—a simple "_our partner summons_". But he knew Kakashi to be that type of person—he would say a few choice words and then assume that you could fill in the blanks where needed. Luckily, Neji was no Naruto, who would probably just gape stupidly and brashly force the man to elaborate.

"So you are suggesting we summon our enemies?"

Kakashi nodded, but didn't elaborate as to whom exactly they should choose. Partner-summons, could, after all, only summon one person, so they had to pick and chose wisely.

If they chose Orochimaru, they'd have to first make sure that in-game bodies possessed little attributes that associated them with an actual human body (so as to eliminate the chances of Orochimaru experimenting on them) and didn't really "die" upon a particularly brutal hit. The next best choice was Sasuke, Orochimaru's favored body. But choosing Sasuke meant dealing with his inexorable anger once he discovered that he'd been displaced (no more jutsu-learning now!), all the while _still _having to make sure that game players couldn't really die (assuming that the boy might go on a killing rampage).

Damn was everything complicated. Of course, there were plenty of other people to pick out of Oto's army, but if they chose an average missing-nin, their partner-summon would've gone to waste. It was either take the big fry and house dangers in their laps, or eliminate two useless ninjas from Orochimaru's army.

A gamble was in order…

Kakashi spoke before Neji could get to it, "For now, we need to make sure the dangers are at a minimum and then partner-summon Orochimaru and Sasuke."

Neji nodded, slightly surprised that they were on the same page of thoughts. But…he needed to voice his qualms—

"Testing of dangers isn't going to be easy. Risking human lives for something like this is illegal—"

"Ask around. I'm sure there will be at least one friendly person willing to inform you that death has or has not yet occurred in the game," Kakashi inwardly cringed as he spoke the words. He should've taken advantage of that shoddy advertiser while he could. Though the man's promotional speech lacked hard facts, surely with a bit of drilling he would've exposed some of the inner workings of the game, the existence of a realistic death included.

But while the Copy-nin was busy regretting his blunders, Neji formulated a trade plan. He spoke hurriedly, as if getting ready to leave, announcing, "Certain members of my clan have been here for quite a while. I'm sure they'll hold knowledge on the matter."

Kakashi nodded nonchalantly, and, seeing that Neji evidently wanted to be left alone, granted his wishes. The spot where the two had stood was deserted shortly after—but if you looked carefully, you could see a dark-haired blur running toward the horizon, in the direction of the Hyuuga camp. The war with Oto was on.

* * *

Shattered glass littered the table. Oto had mobilized—aligned themselves like neat little pricks at the Leaf-Sound border. F—cking _Oto_ had basically declared _war_! Tsunade hadn't drunk for the last twenty-four hours, and to compensate, glass pieces were everywhere—on the table, on the floor, embedded in walls, lodged between bricks. At least Shizune was satisfied—to her, shattered drink was better than drink in the Hokage's stomach. 

Then, breaking her thoughts was a flamboyant shout of "Hokage-sama!" _What _now_?! Probably another damned message about Oto's military fervor._

"Hokage-sama! There's a diplomatic message from Sound!"

She accepted, though she doubted that _any_ diplomacies would resolve things with Orochimaru. Her teammate was too _damn_ war-hungry, and was the biggest f—cking Konoha-hater ever to be born. There was _no way_ he'd give up attack; the most this new letter could've brought was a temporary truce…

* * *

**SUBJECT: OTO-KONOHA RELATIONS**

* * *

**Sender: **Orochimaru, Shodai Otokage  
**Level:** (3) Confidential  
**Receiver: **Tsunade, Godaime Hokage  
**Auth. Code**: #216412 

**Subject: **Oto-Konoha Relations

Tsunade-dono, I see it's been quite a while since we've corresponded. 

Oto is prospering, something quite in occurrence with my dreams. I do, however, have several requests to make of Konoha:

(1) Diplomatically, Oto and Konoha aren't enemies, but Konoha ninjas have never hesitated to murder Oto-nins upon first sight. I request that this be ceased. Likewise, Oto shall also cease with their senseless murdering of Konoha-nins.

(2) Like I mentioned earlier, Oto is quite prosperous. Seeing as how Fire Country is in much need of various metal alloys and Oto's production in the sector has been quite high, I propose a trade alliance. Both sides will benefit immensely.

I understand that you may find our troops lingering about the border to be a declaration of war, but I assure you that is not so. My troops are there because of a concurrent ambush by the numerous Mist-nins who have come over through Fire Country. The need to defend ourselves is quite strong, as I'm sure you understand.

—**Orochimaru**

* * *

Tsunade wasn't stupid. She _knew_ her teammate. Given the chance, he could write the craftiest letters ever—letters leaving the reader wholly unsuspicious as to the true occurrences at the other end. But if this was Orochimaru's half-assed attempt at brainwashing her, either his skills had deteriorated, or he no longer cared if there was success. Besides, there had been no rumors of Mist-nins within Fire Country's border—it was common knowledge that Mist and Leaf did _not_ get along. 

She quickly penned a reply:

* * *

**SUBJECT: RE: OTO-KONOHA RELATIONS**

* * *

**Sender: **Tsunade, Godaime Hokage  
**Level:** (3) Confidential  
**Receiver: **Orochimaru (and by the time this message reached Orochimaru, there was a messily scribbled "–sama, Shodai Otokage" after his name)  
**Auth. Code**: #216413 

**Subject: **Re: Oto-Konoha Relations

No need to worry, we understand perfectly.

As for your requests:

(1) As much as I would like to stop attacks, this is quite unfeasible for both sides. Though you or I may be willing to take the chance, if our ninjas did not agree, we would get nowhere.

(2) I will bring this matter up with the Elders and get back to you soon.

—**Tsunade**

* * *

It was pointless to even write back, of course, but just to be on the polite side, she'd give him something to look at.

* * *

691-4912. Gon's number. Kurapika didn't really want to ask for help; he'd probably put them into enough danger at Yorkshin, and these two certainly didn't need the added issue of a shinobi village's security on their backs. But nonetheless, he'd managed to eliminate the hatsu list to a sizable collection, and was intent on confirming exactly which entry was correct. Hence his need to call Gon. 

691-4912. He sighed; it was better to hurry before it got too late to call.

"Gon, this is Kurapika. You're doing well, I hope?"

"Oh, Kurapika! Yeah, I'm doing fine." Kurapika could imagine a grinning Gon at the other end.

"Actually, I've been meaning to ask you some questions…that is, about the game you and Killua are chasing after, Greed Island, is it?"

"Yeah! Greed Island…Oh! But…Killua's…he's…disappeared…I'm not sure what happened."

Kurapika grimaced; the grinning image vanished. Killua had disappeared too? Then this definitely eliminated several entries on the hatsu list—they had selectively teleported all population within a certain area. If Killua had disappeared and he wasn't within Fire Country's general area, the hatsu probably randomly teleported people from all parts of the world.

"Disappeared? Did he…Was he surrounded by nen-like energy while disappearing?"

"Um…yeah, I think he was. Wait, he definitely was." _So all these departures _are_ related._

"Okay. Did you notice any special colors then?"

"Colors? Well…I remember…Oh yeah! It was green at first, then it turned into this dark yellow."

When Kurapika didn't reply, Gon's voice echoed over the phone again, "Hey Kurapika! Do you have any idea about what happened?"

"Well…I have several leads. If you go to the Hunter's website and find all hatsu related to teleportation, several of them point to what may have happened. However, none of them have auras that change from green to dark yellow specified, although that might just be information that's left out. I'll have to research each of them separately and get back to you."

"Okay, Kurapika, thanks!"

There was a long pause and a slight shuffle from Gon's end before Gon said, "Oh, I've got to go! It's job-related!"

"Okay, then, bye Gon."

Then, in the background, Kurapika barely made out a faint, "Please hurry, Gon. Orochimaru-sama is waiting, and I'm sure…"

The connection was terminated.

Kurapika redialed. And redialed. And redialed. There was no answer from the other end, only a stark memo of "Please leave a message after the beep." Kurapika wanted to scream. What were those two boys _thinking_? Were they hopeless magnets that constantly attracted danger? Or did they just enjoy running to danger's cave and inciting the tiger? And just weeks ago he was assuring himself that Gon and Killua were in _safe_ hands. Weeks. Just weeks. Why didn't he—no, why Orochimaru? Why not anyone _but_ Orochimaru? Even the infamous clan-killer missing-nin Itachi would've been better—at the very least he wasn't known to experiment on humans.

The more Kurapika thought over the situation, the less he could make sense of it. There was no way to rescue Gon from Orochimaru's lair unless he left the village, at which point he would be promptly declared a missing-nin. The only other way was if he could somehow be sent on a mission that involved traveling to Oto territory. That was probably the best option, but it would entail finishing his current mission at the very least. And even if he did manage to complete this mission in record time, he doubted that the Hokage would be willing to send him, a novice shinobi, to a war-torn place as dangerous as Oto.

He shook his head, trying desperately to clear his mind. No matter what, he had to first concentrate on the matter at hand, finish it, and then move on. He tried recollecting his father's words—"_Step-by-step logic is always better than bursts of emotion. That's what your eyes are for—to identify your emotional high points and to curb them._"

Yes. Step-by-step, he would find a way to reach Gon. He _**had**_ to.

**(1) **Abnormal activity in the brain's amygdala and orbito-frontal cortex is high correlated with psychopathic tendencies. Psychopaths think of emotions as a foreign language and therefore do not understand Naruto's outbursts of saving his precious people. The Akatsuki is filled with psychopaths, and their motives (very different than the manga) will be revealed eventually.

**Ending notes: **For the upcoming Oto-Konoha war, the best clue I can give about it will be "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori." Though that won't happen until at least several chapters later. Oh, and, can anyone beta? It'd be great to have a beta reader so I don't have to reread my own work many times.


End file.
